Seven Rings in Hand
by SoulPieces
Summary: Prayers…Sadness…Rage…Hatred…Joy…Pleasure…Wishes—th e seven worlds that make up the stories. These are the seven World Rings that bind these pages together. This is the story of 2 brave hedgehogs and a magical Genie of the Ring. This is the Arabian Nights.
1. The Genie and the Hedgehogs

**DISCLAIMER: All Sonic Characters are property of Sega and the Sonic Team. The setting of this story is based off of "Sonic and the Secret Rings," a game that is also property of Sega. The only thing I own is my own Character, Aly the Hedgehog.**

~Soul Pieces~

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**Chapter 1—The Genie and the Hedgehogs**

It was just another ordinary winter night for Sonic the Hedgehog. He'd caught himself a cold the day before and was taking a nice, healing nap on the couch as he recovered. A fire crackled in the fireplace, and everything was peaceful.

"Um…" Sonic roused from his sleep, believing he'd heard someone. He didn't bother moving, as there was no way anyone was there. His house was locked up tight, and it was too cold for anyone to go out traveling to his house, anyways. He fell back asleep for a few minutes, until he heard the voice again.

"Hmph, hey, wake up!" The voice said a bit louder. Slowly Sonic lifted himself up, and pulled a book off of his face, laying it down on the coffee table. He rubbed his eyes.

"Yaaaaawwnnn…what time is it? Is it that late already?" He reached for the clock on the table, but instead found himself holding a giant ring. "Huh?" _I must be dreaming…or hallucinating, _he thought to himself.

"You're the blue hedgehog!" One of the voices he'd been hearing called from the ring. It sounded like a girl's voice.

"Waaahh!" He jumped back and dropped the ring, shocked. A female genie and a female hedgehog both emerged from the ring. "What the heck?"

The genie was a young woman, maybe in her early twenties. She had pink hair that swirled above her head in a half-crescent. She had deep pink eyes and wore a traditional pink genie's robe. She also wore a jeweled tiara on top of her head and she bowed in respect to Sonic.

The hedgehog was thinly-built and only came up to about muzzle-height next to Sonic. Her long, golden quills were pulled back behind her head in a low ponytail, aside from a few stray quills that framed her small face, and her longest quills managed just reach her knees. Her ears were rounded triangles and were perked up with interest as she surveyed her surroundings. She had jade-green eyes that showed her emotions clearly. She was wearing a black v-neck tee with flair jeans that were ripped open at the knees. Her skin was a light peach color, which complemented her fur color nicely. She was wearing pink and white tennis shoes, which made for an odd appearance next to the genie, who seemed as though she'd climbed out of a storybook for young kids.

Which, as he soon found out, she had, in a way.

The genie spoke first. "Do not be alarmed, I am Shahra, Genie of the Ring. This is Aly, she is one of my closest friends," she gestured to the hedgehog, who simply waved. "Hey," Sonic recognized her voice as the one who called out to him.

"Genie of the Ring?" He asked, baffled. _Why are they here? _he thought. _What do they want with me? Can't a hedgehog get a little bit of peace around here so he can recover?_

"You know, like 'Aladdin and the Magic Lamp'?" She pointed to the book Sonic had laid on the table.

"Don't believe I've read it," he replied

"You haven't…what? It's the best story in the _Arabian Nights_!"

"Or at least the second best…" Aly mumbled quietly.

"Well…yes….but that's beside the point. Look!" Shahra handed Sonic the book, allowing him to flip through it.

"Hey, this page is blank! Where's the story? Sleeping? " He asked jokingly. "I know I'd like to be!" He was proud of the small giggle Aly let out in response. "Hey, check it out, I could be a comedian! Hah!"

"Please focus, our world of the _Arabian Nights_ is disappearing!" she pointed to the blank page, then flipped over a few pages. "Watch!"

Sonic watched with a shocked expression as the Arabic characters on the pages began to lift off from the page, burning into nothingness as they flew higher and higher. "But…how? And why tell me this?"

"This is the work of the Erazor Djinn," Aly spoke up. "He's an incredibly evil and vile spirit from our world."

"The Erazor…Djinn?" Sonic asked, as if he did not hear her quite right. She spoke quietly; as she spoke her voice was occasionally drowned out by the crackling of the fireplace.

"Yes. He used his evil magic to become even more powerful. He could not bear to simply remain in the book any longer. And so he has begun to set the inscriptions free, absorbing the power of the book itself, therefore erasing our world, bit by bit."

"The power…of the book? I thought that the only power books had was the ability to take your imagination places!" He cracked a smile.

This time, however, he did not get a positive response from the small hedgehog. She seemed to be focused on something behind him, but when he looked, all he saw was his shadow on the wall. "This is no laughing matter. If our world were to be completely absorbed by him, then not only would these works vanish forever, but the Erazor would be released into your world, no longer held by the words." She trailed off at the end, her eyes reflecting Sonic's shadow behind him. She seemed to become afraid of something, but this time Sonic did not have to turn and look to see what it was that she was looking at. He watched the reflection in her eyes show his shadow turning into that of a large man with spiraled hair, similar to Shahra's, and he felt that he knew who it was. He shuddered.

"Well…that definitely sounds like trouble…" he started, trying to regain his composure. "But what do you want me to do about it?"

"You must stop the Erazor Djinn," Shahra spoke up. "Only you, the Blue Hedgehog, can do it."

Sonic smiled a cocky smile. "Hmm. So, this guy needs someone to put him in his place, does he? I suppose I can help out with that. It might even be fun. But... this is all something out of a storybook, right? How am I supposed to do anything about that?"

"It's simple, really," Shahra replied. "You are my master, having been the one who called forth the Genie of the Ring. As such, I can grant your wishes. Well, simple wishes, at any rate. Bringing you into the world of the _Arabian Nights_ is within my powers."

"However, let's get one thing straight real fast," Aly spoke up. "She's the genie, I'm not. I will not grant your wishes, even if it's something that is humanly possible, okay, Spikes?"

"It's Sonic," he replied with a hint of resentment in his voice. "And darn, I thought I was gonna be able to make a wish and have it granted twice!" He joked.

"Better luck next time, hedgehog," she smirked.

"Okay, other hedgehog!" He smirked back at her.

Aly rolled her eyes, and looked away from him, allowing him a small victory. Shahra cleared her throat, and then transformed into a ring. "Now, put the ring on your finger."

"Like this?" He placed it on his middle finger.

"As if there's any other way…" Aly mumbled, barely audible and still facing away from Sonic, looking into the fire.

Sonic did not have time to reply with another witty comeback before sparks flew from the ring. "Hey, hey, take it easy!" He yelped.

"I'm sorry, O Master, but now the contract is sealed," Shahra's voice came clearly through the ring.

"Contract?" _Oh no, what'd I get myself into now?_ _Guess I shoulda read the fine print._

"Yes, as master of the ring, I am bound to protect you at the cost of my own life. Now, rub the ring." Sonic did as he was told, and smoke began to fill the room. As it cleared, Shahra re-emerged from the ring in a respectful bow. "O Master, what is thy wish?"

Before he could reply, Sonic broke out into a sneezing fit. Aly turned slightly around to look at him as if to make sure he was okay. He snuck a quick grin at her in between sneezes, and she turned back abruptly to studying the fire, although he believed he caught her blushing. "Well…how about a handkerchief, for starters! Ah…make that a few!" Handkerchiefs began to fill the room, piling up in areas. Aly knocked some away from her face, but otherwise didn't move.

Sonic was buried underneath a pile, only his head poking out. "Ah, thanks, you're a life-saver! You see, I caught this cold yesterday, and…"

"Please, be serious!" Shahra was beginning to run out of patience with the blue blur.

"Okay, okay, thanks for the hankies, though."

"Oh please, someone tell me this isn't happening…" both Shahra and Aly said in unison. Aly turned around to face the other two, her facial expression betraying nothing. However, deep in her eyes, Sonic detected genuine fear of what was coming.

"Alright, I'm ready. Let's head into this world of Arabian Nights!"

"As you wish, Master," Shahra bowed respectfully again.

"Hey, quit it, would you? I'm Sonic! Sonic the Hedgehog!" He gestured a thumbs up and winked at them both.

"Alright then, Sonic…the Legendary Hedgehog. Here we go! Into the world of the Arabian Nights!" Shahra summoned up a Magic Carpet.

Aly jumped effortlessly on top and landed sitting on her knees. Sonic did a flip and landed right beside her, grinning. "Now **this** is first-class!" He said enthusiastically. Aly tried not to smile, but he watched as her lips betrayed her, and a wide grin appeared across her face.

"You are just so…wow," she laughed. "I must say, you're very different than many people I've met," she said to him, her voice a bit louder than it was at first.

"Well, of course I am!" He said proudly. "I'm one of a kind!"

Aly laughed. "Oh yes, you have no clue how **right** you are about that, Sonikku."

"Sonikku? What is that?"

"Oh, sorry, where I come from, that's how we'd pronounce your name. Sonikku. I'm not really from the world of the Arabian Nights. You should be able to tell that, since I don't have the same accent or talk in the way that Shahra does. I'm from…a much different place," she trailed off.

"Where is that?" Sonic asked. "That is…if you want to talk about it," he added, noticing her hesitation.

"Sorry…let's just say I have no reason to want to go back there, nor will I ever, quite possibly. Although…I don't know that I'll stay in the world of the Arabian Nights, either. I'm not sure where I really fit in yet," she said sadly.

Sonic patted her back. "Hey, you'd probably fit right into my world! My friends are amazing, you'd really feel welcome, if staying in the Arabian Nights doesn't work out for you," he said with a warm smile. Aly didn't seem like she knew how to respond to that, and instead bowed her head sadly. Sonic had the feeling that she wasn't used to many people being nice to her.

Finally, she spoke. "Thank you, Sonikku. That really means a lot to me." She looked up, returning his smile.

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Soul Pieces here! This is my first Sonic FanFic ever, and I'm really proud of the progress so far! So? How ya like it so far? Normally the chapters will be a bit longer than this one. Please review me! I'm also all for telling me what I did wrong. If you see any typos, please copy and paste the section into a message and I'll get it change when I can! Hope to see you readers later!

*~Soul Pieces signin' out!~*


	2. The Lost Prologue

**Chapter 2—The Lost Prologue**

"This is the world of the Arabian Nights. Well…the gateway, anyways. The real world is beyond this stretch," Shahra told Sonic as they landed in a mystical world. Sonic looked around. In front of him stretched a pathway made of pages from the book. Around this place floated all the rest of the pages, swirling in no particular order about the sky and underneath the pathway. "This will give you a chance to become accustomed to moving about this world," Shahra continued, as Sonic began to walk across the pages. He stepped carefully, afraid that the pages would not be able to support his weight. To his surprise, the path did not give in the slightest, even as he performed a jump-test.

"You know, that's not the best way to check the support of something," Aly said teasingly. "What would you have done had you fallen through? There's not really a bottom…" she said.

"Easy, I would have wished it to never have happened!" Sonic laughed.

Aly allowed herself a grin, but also rolled her eyes. "Boys will be boys, I suppose, no matter what world we're in. Come on, Sonic, we gotta get rolling if you want to save this world in time!" She began to walk faster, pushing ahead of him.

"What happened to Sonikku? Oh, and don't bother challenging me to a race. I run faster than the speed of sound. It's not worth your time!" He easily caught up to her in a second.

"I don't know, I'll call you that depending on what mood I'm in. And as for a race, my legs could use a bit of stretching, let's have a go at it!" _There's no way this guy can run that fast. It just doesn't happen. And even if it is true, at least I'll still be able to run for a while. Running makes me feel free, and I really need that feeling in these times,_ she thought to herself.

"Hah! Sounds good to me! Hey, Shahra!" Sonic rubbed the ring. "Can you be the judge in our little race? From here to…" Sonic looked on ahead of them. "Oh, let's say the fifth arch over. All you have to do is count us off, then wait over there, tell us who wins this race, and make sure there's no cheating when one of us starts losing horribly," he winked at Aly.

"I suppose it wouldn't hurt…although we really shouldn't be goofing off at a time like this…but I suppose a race will encourage you to move faster through this world," Shahra nodded.

Aly's jaw dropped. "I would **never** cheat! **Ever**!" Sonic could see flames of rage flaring up in her eyes

"Oh crud…wait, wait, I'm sorry, I was only joking! Hey, take it easy!" He held up his hands in surrender. _Geez, she's almost as bad as Amy! Only without the hammer…_ he shuddered at the though of Aly wielding a hammer, chasing after him, threatening to kill him.

The rage slowly disappeared from her eyes as they took their places along their starting line. "Get ready, get set…**GO**!" Shahra waved the signal and both hedgehogs took off. Dark Magic walls began to form in the way of the two, most likely just simple road blocks created by the Erazor Djinn meant to slow down their progress through the story. Aly took the chance to leap onto them and use them as spring-boards as she rocketed through the air.

_I may not be the fastest on the ground, but get me in the air, and I'll beat anything! _She thought to herself. She felt the wind rush through her quills, seeming to take with it all her troubles. She looked down to see Sonic keeping steady pace with her. Upon the next wall, she pushed a little harder on her feet and made herself move faster.

They were approaching the first gate. Aly knew she was going to either have to cut both her speed and height to go under the arch, or take a chance and attempt to jump over the arch, possibly still losing speed. She was struck with a better idea. She picked up just a bit more speed to catch up with Sonic, who had taken the chance to pull ahead while she was calculating her next move, and did her best to stay right over him. On the last wall before the arch, she pushed as hard as she could to get ahead of Sonic, and then did a stomp-kick towards the ground.

She had calculated correctly, and landed right on top of him. He grunted as her weight fell on him, but he kept going. She laughed with surprise.

"Hey, you don't weigh anything!" Sonic called to her in shock.

"Thanks. I'd like to thank exercise for that! Now, get ready, because I'm about to use your head as a springboard!" She laughed and then jumped off of him, hearing him fall to the ground. She knew he wouldn't be expecting the power behind her leg muscles. She took the chance to continue bounding across the walls. Although she didn't want to admit it, she knew that this was going to be a real challenge along the final stretch. She could tell he was holding back, conserving his energy for later. She, on the other hand, had to push it just to keep up. She really needed these few seconds while he was down.

Suddenly, she heard something land on the walls behind her. He was going to try to do the same thing! She did a back hand spring off the next wall, and then hit the ground running. _Fine, let him try it! He's probably not going to know that he needs to be __**ahead**__ of me in order to pull it off!_ Sure enough, as they began to approach the second gate, he kept just a bit behind her on the walls. Now she knew that he wasn't trying at all, while she was giving this her all. _Running is so not my best quality, not against someone like him!_ She thought in dismay.

She passed underneath the second gate, and heard a disappointed Sonic land behind her. She noticed that all the walls had disappeared, and the path was narrowing. The third gate was closer than the other two had been, but spiked balls swirled around this path. For her, it would either be take it slow and be sure to avoid damage, or run like heck and try to jump over the spiked balls.

She decided to choose the latter, since Sonic would probably just run around them, or at least do the same as her. In either case, she couldn't afford to lose speed.

The track became only wide enough for one person now. He wouldn't be able to pass her, but he could jump over her and probably scare her, causing her to fall. Would he do that? She didn't know if he thought about those situations, or if he only focused on the goal and the task at hand. She hoped to herself that he would take into consideration how narrow the pathway was, for her sake.

She began to ready herself for one large jump, one that would hopefully get her over all the obstacles in one leap. Just before the first ball, she lifted off, and felt herself sail upwards. Again, the air seemed to lift her up, allowing her to fly above everything. She prepared a stomp-kick before she reached the arch, but she heard Sonic yell out from behind her.

"Aly! Watch out! Look below you!" She looked down and saw what the subject of her fears had been since shortly after she first came into this world: the Erazor Djinn.

He had dark rose colored skin and had mahogany hair that swirled on top of his head like Shahra's and also had side-burns and a small beard. He carried with him a razor-like sword that flipped open and closed, similar to an enormous pocket knife. He wore only a black cape and baggy beige pants. His piercing red eyes seemed as though they could see through anything, and he had markings all over his body that were the same color as his hair.

Aly did a mid-air back flip and tried to land as far away from him as possible without falling against one of the spikey balls. She heard Sonic skid to a stop beside her, but she didn't see him. She had made the mistake of making eye contact, and darkness filled her vision. She heard screams of helpless people all around her, yelling for help.

"Aly! Aly you have to help us! You're supposed to save our world!" The invisible people yelled out to her.

"No….no…it's not in my power…no…not in this world…I can't…stop it!" She yelled back, but it was no use. The cries continued, getting louder and louder, and her screams were silent in this hallucination. "**SHUT UP**I" She screamed out. This scream actually sounded, and she only heard silence afterwards. The flashback was over, and she opened her eyes to see Sonic staring at her, stunned at her sudden outburst.

She immediately fainted.

The Erazor Djinn struck out at Sonic, but he flipped away from him, pulling Aly with him and laying her down gently behind him.

"What was all that about? Talk about close shaves…maybe you know where I can get my quills sharpened, too?"

"Sonic, that's him! That's the Erazor Djinn!" Shahra told him.

"You…you must be that blue **rat** that just got added to the story, along with that yellow she-rat. How…interesting," he sneered, his voice booming across the area.

"Hey, don't you know anything? We're not rats, we're **hedgehogs**!" Sonic pointed to himself.

"I am the Erazor Djinn. I shall carve up this world as I see fit," he boasted, ignoring Sonic.

"Yeah, well, if you're going to do that, can you at least wait until I'm done reading it?" Sonic teased.

"Sonic…please…" Shahra pleaded quietly. "This is no laughing matter!"

He waved his hands around dramatically as he spoke. "One hundred of the one thousand and one nights have already been wiped clean, and soon the rest will join them, night by night, until all are gone! And then, with the seven World Rings…"

"Seven World Rings?" Sonic interrupted him.

"You **have** gathered the seven Rings for me, have you not, Shahra, my dear?" he hissed, his expression growing dark as he leaned in close to her.

"Are you still going on about that? I told you, they don't exist! They are but mere legends! And even if they did exist, I would never bring them to you!" Shahra retorted heavily.

"Oh, but would you now?" The Erazor growled. Shahra said nothing in response and instead turned away from the other genie, crossing her arms.

"A suitable punishment is in order then, I believe!" The Erazor growled and straightened up. He conjured up a small flame from his finger and pointed it at Shahra.

"Look out!" Sonic yelled, jumping in front of her at the last minute, taking the arrow for her. "Ngh!" He winced as it pierced him, and he fell to the ground before her.

"So, this is how judgment shall be dealt, then? Very well. This shall be interesting. Are you listening, rat?"

"Hedgehog…" Sonic growled under his breath.

"Bring me the seven World Rings before the flame of this arrow extinguishes. If you do not…then your very life is forfeit instead. Next, I believe I shall collect the life of King Shahryar!" The Erazor Djinn suddenly announced, disappearing in a ring of darkness made up of purple circles with intricate patterns inside of them. His maniacal laughter echoed about the gateway.

"Oh no, the King is the creator of the Arabian Nights!" Shahra gasped in dismay.

"Don't worry, Shahra, with my speed, we'll reach him with time to spare!" Sonic said confidently. He then turned around and walked over to where Aly still lay. He laid his hand on her shoulder. "Hey, are you awake yet?"

He heard her inhale and exhale deeply. "Yes. I have been for most of this time. I've heard enough," she sat up, tears filling her eyes as she looked directly at the arrow piercing his heart. "Oh god…" she whispered as she eyed the tiny flame. "He really did not give you any time at all, Sonic…"

"Hey, chin up!" He said, smiling. He thumbed his chest. "It's not over until it's over. I'll get this thing outta my chest before it goes out. I'm not going to die, not on this adventure!" He laughed.

Aly sat there silently. Finally she spoke, her voice shaking with grief. "That's all life is to you, isn't it; just a joke? Just a big, hilarious, laughable joke. You go through laugh all happy and looking at the bright side of things and teasing everything and everyone; it's the way you deal with grief. Maybe for you it's so easy to be happy all the time, to look at everything with optimism. Newsflash, Sonic, it's not that way for me! For me, if I make it to the next day, I'm lucky! That's my 'bright side' of life! Watching my friends die became pretty normal for me, in my world! Destruction, death, it's all a routine there! Maybe you can joke and tease your way through your life. But I can't. So don't tell me to 'cheer up', when I have no reason to." She stood up quickly, then took off running, leaving behind a stunned Sonic and a forlorn Shahra. Sonic could have sworn he could still hear her crying echoing throughout the gateway.

"Shahra…did you know what kind of world she came from?" Sonic said after a long pause, still sitting down where Aly had left him. His expression was more sober now, her outburst having wiped the cocky grin from his face.

"Yes. I did. You would never understand just how morbid it was. Aly was…the single lucky person in that world, to be able to escape into another world," Shahra sighed and looked in the direction she'd gone.

"What do we do, Shahra? Do we go after her, or do we go to the king first?" he asked while standing up.

"I would suggest we go find her…trouble has a way of finding Aly. If we don't find her now, things could get worse. Plus, she is valuable to our main goal." Sonic nodded, and with that, Shahra disappeared back inside the ring, and Sonic took off in the direction that Aly had gone.

_If only I had known…I hope she's okay._

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Wow! She sure is moody, huh? LOL, don't worry, here in another chapter or two you'll find out why...stick around for the next exciting chapter of Seven Rings in Hand! Please send in your reviews, and as always, I'm open to anything you have to say about this story, good or bad. So anyways, you'll find out why this selection is rated T for Teen here in a few chapters...no, it's not necessarily anything bad. It's just something in Aly's past that makes up for the reason as to why she acts the way she does. To finish up, thanks for reading! Hope you're enjoying my story!

*~Soul Pieces signin' out!~*


	3. Sand Oasis

**Chapter 3—Sand Oasis**

Looking out over the clear waters of one of the biggest oases in the vast Arabian Desert, Aly could almost forget everything that had happened to her. All the pain, the fear, everything that had ever happened to her in her old world was beginning to fade away. She hoped that, with time, she would be able to completely suppress the memories, and move on with her life.

But she couldn't forget exploding at poor Sonic. Truth was, she was jealous of the way he was always able to look at everything with a positive attitude. It was the sign of a person who'd had a good life, the exact opposite of what had happened to her.

"Ngh!" She felt a sharp pain inside her chest, knowing she'd run too fast, too far. She'd left behind the gateway to the world, and now she was sitting underneath a palm tree in the desert oasis. The Arabian Desert had few oases, but luckily the gateway had led her straight to the biggest one.

The problem with being alone in a quiet place like this was that she heard the screams from her past echoing around her head, calling out to her still. The screams had long ago become a part of her every day life, but only sounded when she was alone, idle, or whenever the Erazor decided to prey on her horrible past. She felt tears roll down her cheeks. In her old world, everything was falling apart. Her own race had nearly destroyed the planet, and there were constant nuclear wars everywhere, threatening everyone. Humanity had finally lost its grip on control.

When Shahra had appeared to the world, claiming that Aly was the one who could save the world, they all took it the wrong way. The believe it to mean** her** world, the world of humans. That's when the constant screams first began to haunt her. She had gladly accepted Shahra's invitation to live with her in a different world, as a different creature with a different life. But, upon further research of the Legend of the Arabian Nights, they realized that it would not only be Aly, but that they would need a blue hedgehog to help them, too.

Thus began their true friendship and long search for the Legendary Hedgehog. Aly was unsure about what part she would be playing in this story now, since Sonic seemed to have it all under control. He could probably do it all single-handedly.

"Sonikku…" she realized she'd said his name out loud, and looked around quickly in her embarrassment. "Baka!" she yelled out, using the Japanese term of "idiot". "Of course no one heard you; you're in the middle of the desert!" She scolded herself. She puffed out her quills, attempting to rid them of sand. Finally, she gave up and jumped into the large pool in front of her. She hadn't realized it, but she had gotten overheated while sitting out in the sun. The water, although not exactly cool, was still noticeably cooler than the air, and she relished in the way the water felt as it ran through her fur, pulling out grit and sand. She took a deep breath, the plunged beneath the water, even though it wasn't very deep. She looked around below the waves, but she had kicked up a bit of sand, and the water was too murky. _It isn't like there would be much to look at, anyways,_ she thought to herself.

She stepped out of the pool and back underneath the palm she'd been sitting under, giving herself a good shake. She felt nice and refreshed, but she knew she shouldn't keep running. First of all, she knew she should wait there, because that's where Sonic would come out of the gateway, and she knew she couldn't travel this world alone, since she was prone to trouble. Second of all, she had no clue how far away the edge of the desert was from this particular point, and she didn't want to be caught in the middle of unrecognizable nowhere on a desert night. She looked at the sun, about three quarters of the way to the horizon, and guessed it was around 6 o'clock.

Aly's thoughts flashed to her parents, lucky enough to be taken from the world before their lives could be brutally taken from them. Just before all hell broke loose, her parents both died in their sleep of unknown causes. Everyone immediately blamed their only daughter and only living relative, Aly, claiming that she had poisoned them. She was proven innocent numerous times, and her friends stuck by her, but adults shunned her. She was only twelve years old at the time, but she faked being 15 and got herself a part-time job at a grocery store a few miles away from town, where no one would notice her and shun her. She worked for food money, and rarely used water or electricity at her house unless she truly needed it. Most of the time, she stayed with a friend and shut off all amenities when she left the house. She lived alone in a three bedroom house, but mainly only stayed in the living/dining area. It was a lonely life, but she grew used to it.

Two years afterwards, the world plummeted into evil. Her house was broken into, and she was captured, and sold as a sex slave. She was stuck being sold again and again for four months before she managed to escape, and looking back now, she knew she was lucky. By the time she was 15, she already had to have 2 abortions, thanks to rape, and was homeless. She then used a bit of the money she still had saved from working to purchase a couple of knives and a Glock gun for her own defense. By this time, it was completely normal for young teens to carry around weapons. She avoided large crowds of boys, and then eventually began to discover she had to avoid groups of girls, too, because apparently, "being gay was all the rage." She began to become a recluse, so when Shahra appeared to her, she was scared out of her mind, and ran from her. Shahra had to chase her down via television, using all the channels to broadcast a call for her, asking her to come with her.

That had been where the whole "Aly will save our world" rumor got started. Shahra had only said Aly would save the world, but she forgot to mention that it wouldn't be this one. Having finally decided to trust the Genie, Aly was plunged into this world.

The rest, as they say, is history.

Shahra knew everything about her, and she knew everything about Shahra. It had been Aly's idea to tell all secrets, then and there, so that there were no trust mishaps in the times ahead of them. So they had confessed to every little mistake, every mishap, every joy, and every secret. They knew each other better than they knew themselves. Aly liked it that way. She didn't like holding secrets from people. They had a right to know if one was going to call them a best friend.

Aly shuddered as a cold wind began to blow across the desert. The air in front of her warped and swirled, and Sonic stepped out of the gateway to the world. He didn't even get a chance to react to seeing Aly before she hugged him tightly, tears spilling from her eyes. "I'm sorry….I shouldn't have snapped at you…" she whimpered.

Sonic pulled himself out of shock and wrapped his arms tightly around her. "Hey, you don't have to apologize, it's okay. I should have known, I should have noticed by the way you acted," he said gently.

"No, you couldn't have, because I didn't show it. Don't try to blame yourself, Sonikku," Aly replied.

"Okay, uh, sorry, but you're dripping wet…" Sonic pulled back from her, his fur now soaked.

"Well, it was either go swimming in the hot desert, or put up with the sun and the sand and the dirt that was enjoying attacking me," she said, trying to be funny. It was a pathetic attempt, as Sonic thought, since she was still crying.

"Well, I don't mean it doesn't make sense, just…" he trailed off.

Aly got the connection immediately. "Aha! You're afraid of water? Oh wow, how does that happen?" She smiled through the remainder of her tears.

"Well, it's just….have you ever tried running underwater? It's not possible!" His cheeks turned red as he scratched the back of his neck nervously, hating to admit he had any kind of weakness.

"Hm, I guess I can see where you're coming from. You live off speed, don't you? You are a fast hedgehog. By far one of my hardest challenges. Of course, I suppose beating me was a walk in the park for you."

"Actually, our race was never really finished, but you were winning. But I guess that's because you prefer strategy over pure speed. I suppose that's a better way to look at it, though. I mean, I really didn't expect you to land on me, nor did I expect you to have that much muscle in your legs! I was actually down for a little bit! That's quite an accomplishment," he winked at her. "I would have won in the end, anyways. Speed conquers all!"

She began giggling. "You wish! Strategy is the way to go, even though quite a bit of speed is needed to beat you, too. I was the fastest runner around in my world, so I've kept my leg muscles in pretty good shape. You kinda had to be fast, with the world the way it was then. That, and good with firearms."

Sonic shuddered as they sat down underneath one of the palms. "I'm supposing that your world wasn't exactly the ideal place to live in, huh?"

Aly shook her head sadly. "It was like living in Hell…only without the fire and the little horned dude with the pitchfork," she smiled, but again it wasn't a real smile. He could see that it was covering up a whole lot of negative emotions.

"Would you mind telling me about it? …Like I said earlier, you don't have to talk about it, if you don't want to," he added when she was silent for a long time.

"No…I kinda want to tell you…" her voice was shaky and grief-filled. "It's just…you have to promise not to get all exasperated with me when I start crying, okay?" Already, her voice was breaking.

"Hey, I'm not irritated right now, am I? And you're crying right now, and you shouldn't be. I know you've lived a hard life, even though I don't know the specifics of it all, but look at the life you have now! It's got to be better than where you came from, am I right?" He casually put his arm around her and gave her a small, reassuring hug.

"Yes…I guess so. Sonic, if only I had your optimism. Maybe I wouldn't be such a wreck," she sniffed and wiped underneath her eyes.

Sonic moved closer to her and stretched his legs out, lounging against the tree trunk, his arms now folded behind his head in his favorite lounging position. "Why don't you tell me everything that happened, Aly? It helps to talk about things that bug you." He watched as she pulled her knees closer to her chest, wrapping her arms around them and resting her chin on her knees. She closed her eyes, as though in pain, and her quills puffed out. "Oh, hey, ouch, watch the quills! Geez, where do you get them sharpened? Forget asking the Erazor Djinn, I'll just follow you!" To this, he got a loud, genuine laugh out of Aly. He grinned and felt relief that she wasn't completely lost to her negative emotions and memories. Sonic believed that if you could make someone laugh, then they weren't completely depressed.

"I'm sorry. I'll try not to do that…" she said once she finished laughing. "Okay…my story. You won't think of me any differently after I tell you, will you, Sonic? Because it's a hard story, and you will probably be sorta surprised about some of the things I had to resort to…"

"Of course not! Why would I? I judge you on who you are **now**, not who you were…uh…how long ago was this?"

"I finally escaped when I was nearly 16, the age I am now. It was maybe…four months ago? Maybe five."

"In any case, I won't judge you on how you were like then. You are who you are now, and that's how I'm going to see you, unless you change. Which, I think you can only change for the better. You just seem like that kind of person," he said with a smile.

Aly smiled a small half-smile, sucked in a big breath, and began to recite her story. "I guess you can say this whole mess began when I was 12…"

* * *

Still enjoying it? I hope so! This was pretty much the only chapter I've written so far that was actually pre-thought of. Mostly this book "writes itself," as I like to say. This next chapter is called an "interlude", it's just where I tell, from first person point of view, of part of Aly's past. These interludes are scattered throughout the book, since it makes for a good idea of Aly without me having to attempt to tie it into the main storyline. Hope you're enjoying it! Reviews are greatly appreciated, and as always, feel free to tell me I didn't do a good job (as long as you're able to back it all up with evidence!) Also, if there are any typos, just copy&paste the section with the typo into a message and I'll fix it when I can.

*~Soul Pieces signin' out!~*


	4. Interlude: First Year Alone

**Interlude 1—First Year Alone**

_I think, "How can they think it was me? I'm only twelve! How could I possibly even begin to think about poisoning my parents? I still need them! THIS IS SO UNFAIR!"_

_I am only twelve, and I am an orphan, and a suspect in my own parents' deaths. My parents died peacefully in their sleep of natural causes, even the doctors claimed so! But yet, the adults look upon me as though I'm vermin, the very scum of the Earth. I hear what the ladies at church whisper in the bathroom when they believe I am not around. I don't understand this. I'm only twelve. Who would have thought up this rumor about me?_

_Of course, I've got my own suspicions. But I couldn't bring myself to blame anyone. After all, I'm being blamed for something I know I didn't do, how would others feel if I did the same thing? So I leave it alone. My friends stand beside me through this tragedy. Even Will, the boy with whom I always fought with, has shown compassion towards my misfortune._

_But anyone who has never known me very well refuses to be around me . At least I have not been left alone by my true friends. But when I return to my empty house, in which I now only use two rooms, I feel as though I am the only living creature left within a million light years of Earth. I know it's a ridiculous thought, for all I have to do is ask to stay at a friend's house, but yet, somehow I feel like a piece of my parents are still at home, and I can't bring myself to stay away for long._

_I may only be twelve, but I do understand the importance of buying food and paying bills. Being alone grows you up real fast like that. So I begin to look for a job opening. I ask Will to help me look, too. He's 13, but he could pass for 16 or 17. I'm only twelve, but most people mistake me for a high school student, so it works. I get a part-time job working at a grocery store a few miles out of town, away from the people who know me as "The girl who killed her parents." Finally, I'll have enough money to buy my own food, instead of mooching from my friends, and I'll be able to pay my own bills, which means I can stop using candles to light up the bathroom and living/dining area. I was running low, anyways._

_My grades haven't slipped much at all, thank goodness, so at least I'll have a future to look forward to, after I survive through this._

_I'm now 13, at home, lying on my couch, looking at the now-empty dog bed. I had to sell my three dogs, since I can no longer take care of them. I know they've gone to good homes, though. Occasionally I drop by to see them. They don't remember me, of course, so they treat me like any other stranger. But I'm okay with it. It means they don't miss me, therefore they're happy._

_The doorbell suddenly rings, and I begin to shake. I hate hearing that horrid thing, I'm always afraid it's someone come to accuse me again. Slowly, I creep into the hallway and try to make out the figure standing at the door. I recognize him. I quickly unlock the door, and he pulls me into a big hug._

_"Will? Why are you here?" I ask, wrapping my arms around his neck. Today he's wearing a black tight t-shirt, which shows off his newly developing muscles. His jeans are the same as always: baggy and torn. His strawberry blonde hair is cut short, as always, and I personally think it's the best look for him. His face is somewhat tough-looking, a classic look of the Irish. I am content in his arms, drinking in his familiarity. I have Irish ancestors, and I always become happier when I am around another Irish person._

_"I figured you were lonely, and I wanted to know if you wanted to stay the night at my house tonight. My mom originally thought it up, so it's okay with her. She wants to see you anyways. She's been worried about you, you know. We all have." He brushes some stray hair from my face._

_I nod. "Okay, I'll stay. Do you maybe have any nightshirts though? I haven't gotten my paycheck yet so I haven't been able to do laundry…"_

_"No problem, I'm certain we'll find you something," he interrupts me, and begins to walk out the door. Turning around, he adds, "So, come on!"_

_I nod and grab my house keys, the only set we have now. I lock the doors, and we walk the 10-minute distance in a comfortable silence, side by side. When I walk in the door, his mother greets me warmly. She has long black hair, which she has pulled into a bun today. She's wearing her apron, and I know she's made a special dinner for me tonight. Underneath her apron I can see a light green long sleeved shirt and a pair of dark denim jeans. She's wearing house shoes, which I know means she didn't work today. Despite the fact, she looks exhausted. The house is spotless. I know this means she's been cleaning all day in an effort to make the house spotless for my arrival. She cares too much about me, sometimes. She tells me how sorry she is about my situation. Then she comments about how I'm losing so much weight. I know I've lost some, but honestly, I hadn't lost it recently. It had been that long since she'd seen me._

_She offers me a huge steak. I can't accept so much, so I take a quarter of it, so that way I can ask for seconds later, which will please her. I eat with them at the table. Will, his father, and his mother all try to make conversation. But they know I'm naturally quiet. His mother says it's normal for a girl who's been through my ordeals._

_Will's father is a large man with many muscles. I know that comes from working with the railroad companies. He helps to lay tracks. He has a gray mustache and his hair is turning gray, as if all the work is taking its toll on him. I don't doubt that it is. It's hard work, and he's gaining in years very fast. Like Will, he has a rugged face, but I see kindness in his eyes, same as Will. He may look all big and tough but I know that he's a really sweet, caring man. I look at the three of them. They all look so happy. I begin to feel happy._

_And, for once in a long while, I feel like I'm a part of a family again. Will is my brother, Mrs. Nina and Mr. Matt are my hardworking parents._

_Suddenly, my happiness is gone, and I break down crying. My parents loved me so much. Will rushes to my side, whispering that everything's okay; trying to calm me down. I can hear Mrs. Nina and Mr. Matt talking in hushed whispers to each other, even though I don't know what they're saying specifically. Suddenly I'm lifted out of my chair, bridal-style._

_When I look up, I see Will holding me, his cyan eyes filled with kindness and sympathy. He sits down on the couch and strokes my hair, still holding me. He tells me that God has a reason for this, for everything, and that I just need to keep looking ahead, and to rely on Him. Then he tells me he'll be right by my side as much as he can. He says he'll always be here for me, always protect me, even after his last breath. He tells me the world is spiraling downwards, that things are going to get much worse, but he promises me that I'll find happiness in the end._

_Suddenly he blinks, and his face goes blank. His last words were so...powerful. It didn't just sound like a promise. It sounded like something more, like a prediction. Finally he takes in a breath and says, "And I believe God will give me a chance to protect you." He holds me until I stop crying and promise him ten times that I'm okay. Then we don't speak of it anymore. I watch a movie with the family, sitting on the couch beside Will. Next thing I know, it is morning, and my head is lying on his shoulder, his arm wrapped around me protectively. His breathing is heavy; he's still asleep. I realize that I slept in the clothes I had already been wearing. My skinny jeans feel like they are constricting me and my red sports tee is sticking to me. I gently get up and ask his mother if she minded if I took a shower. She answers, "Of course not," as I knew she would, and I make my way to the back bathroom, locking the door behind me._

_I switch the water on immediately to burning hot and pull off my shirt and skinny jeans, thankful to finally be out of the restricting, every day clothes. I step into the shower, allowing the steaming hot water to wash away my exhaustion. It feels great on my skin and in my hair, as though the cleansing water is pulling away my troubles. Water has always had that effect on me; it pulls at me and it's like, just for a moment, I am carefree. I love the feeling._

_Eventually, however, I must get out of the shower. I am used to taking short showers now; as to conserve money. I don't like free-loading, and every time I stay at someone else's house, it feels like I am doing so. I step back into my clothes from the day before, since I have no new clothes with me, and towel-dry my hair. I don't feel like searching for a hair drier to dry my hair thoroughly._

_When I rejoin Will and his mother, Will is up and making me scrambled eggs. He smiles and me and tugs at my wet hair jokingly, commenting about how I look half like a drowned rat. I shake my head, splashing him with the water droplets. He then chases me outside into the cold and his mom takes over breakfast. We are all laughing. I run down the street, my wet hair making it seem colder outside than it really was. My bare feet are killing me, for the road has water from last night's rain on it, and every puddle feels like a bucket of ice water to my feet. But I don't care. I keep running until I reach the end of the street. Will tackle-hugs me, tickling me without mercy. I try to shove him away, and he stops and sits down on the ground. I sit down beside him and we look up at the sky. It's just now dawn, and way off into the east the sun is rising, as we can see through the trees._

_"A new day, another chance at life," Will mumbles beside me. I nod as I look up into the golden orb. The sky is orange and cloudless, and I can't help but think, _This is happiness. This is perfect. I wish every day was like this. Being next to Will….it's so right. It's so natural.

_Will stretches an arm around me, asking if I'm cold. I nod, and I am visibly shaking as he pulls me close to him. He's extremely warm, and I snuggle close to him. He laughs and suggests that we go back to his house for breakfast before I catch hypothermia. I agree, and we walk slowly back to his house, back to our warm breakfast. I can't quit staring at him, and every time he catches me, he laughs and both of us look away. I feel the happiest I have been in ages._

_My life fell back into a lonely routine. I came home from school and got ready for work. Then, I either went home to sleep, or, as time went on, I went to a friend's house and stayed the night, and felt like a member of a family again._

_Will and I saw less of each other after that. We were both changing. We were still friends, but something was shifting in our relationship. It wasn't bad, really. Even as we didn't see each other, we grew closer still. In my heart, I knew that I, now 13, had my first love._

* * *

You like so far? This is the first interlude of the story, telling the tale of Aly's first year alone. Well, mainly it just summarizes, I didn't really go into much detail. I didn't really want to go on and on and on about one character, so her story's broken into all these little interludes throughout the story, as I believe I've said before. Anyways, as always, leave reviews, feel free to be hard on me! I'm always looking for ways to improve. If there are any typos, please tell me! Most of the time I tend to write late at night, since my imagination goes wild around then, so there's bound to be a few typos. Thanks for reading!

*~Soul Pieces signin' out!~*


	5. Palace of King Sharyar

**Chapter 4—Palace of King Shahryar**

The harsh desert sun awoke Sonic rather suddenly. He slowly opened his eyes, allowing them to adjust to the light. He registered that he had his arms tightly wrapped around Aly; his head resting on hers. He buried his face in her fur, liking how soft it was. He turned his head to the side and looked off into the distance, wondering which way they should head in order to find the palace of King Shahryar.

He heard a small yawn, and couldn't help but laugh. I was so high-pitched! He forced himself to be still, closed his eyes, and listened to her breathing rate quicken as she woke up. He slowed his breathing down as if he were still asleep. When he was certain she was fully awake and believed him to still be sleeping, he began to tickle her, laughing when she screamed in surprise.

"Sonic, stop it! I'm serious! Stop!" Aly laughed and jumped up, trying to run from him. At first she was tripping over herself, and he tried to pin her down a few times. Finally, Aly got found her balance, and she took off. Sonic chased her out of the oasis, running swiftly across the sands. He put on a bit more speed and attempted to tackle her. She skidded to a sudden stop and ducked, causing him to soar over her, face-planting harshly in the sand. She shook the sand from her fur that had been kicked up by his landing and started laughing. Irritatingly enough, the sand refused to stop clinging to her fur.

"Hey, you cheated again!" He said, rising from the sand. He spat out a few grains. "Blech, not good," he stuck his tongue out and began to wipe it with his hand. "Dang it! There's sand on my hands too!"

"Well, of course it doesn't taste good, it's sand! And I didn't cheat, just out-thought you," she added with a smirk, her breathing heavy. "Wow, what a nice morning workout."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever," he grumbled, turning to face her. "I suppose it's for the better, I might have really hurt you. I'm not light like you are, ya know. Why **are** you so light, anyways? It's gotta be unhealthy!"

"How do you think I'm able to go so high in the air, and practically fly? If I stay light, I can move quickly through the air, which is why you could beat me in a ground race any day. It's not hard for me to retain a low weight, since I'm thinly built to begin with," she explained. "Pretty much all my weight comes from leg, arm, and ab muscles. Doesn't take much for me to get around."

Sonic nodded. "It makes sense, I guess. But couldn't you afford to gain a few pounds? You'd be blown away in a sand storm out here! I've already had to chase you once, imagine how long it'd take me to find you if you were blown away! " He joked. "I've already had to track you through the gateway between the worlds, then chase you across this desert just to get to you! Do you not want me around or something?" He laughed again.

Aly just laughed and looked off into the horizon. "I think I can see the ruins ahead. That's where we want to head. Beyond those ruins is the palace of King Shahryar. That's where you want to head next, am I correct? We can get there easily before the evening." She spoke quickly, then took off in the direction of the ruins.

"Hm?" Sonic wondered why she changed the topic so suddenly. She talked like she was covering up something. He shrugged, and took off after her, easily passing her within a few seconds.

"Hey, now you're cheating!" She called after him.

"How is using my speed cheating? You use your brain to try to beat me, can't I use my speed?"

"You have to go easy on me though! I'm a girl, the guy's supposed to let the girl win!" She pushed herself harder in an attempt to catch up with him. "Plus, out here, I really don't have anything to help me out. It's the middle of unrecognizable nowhere!" Now she was panting, and losing speed fast. Finally, she called out to him. "Stop running, will ya? At least slow down! Stop going so fast!"

He felt irritation flash through his fur. She couldn't make him stop running; no one told him how fast to run. Ever. He stopped and made eye contact with her as she stopped beside him, breathing heavily again.

"What?" She asked. "I didn't mean you had to stop, just slow down a bit! I can't run as fast as—"

"No one tells me how fast I need to run, got it?" He held up his hand, interrupting her. "I do things my way. I don't let others tell me what to do and how to do it." He pointed to himself and took off at the speed of sound, knowing full well that before Aly had time to reach the ruins, he'd already be at the palace.

Aly flattened her ears in hurt and took a small step back. She hadn't realized what a big deal he'd make out of it. She was only joking! "Stupid boys…" she mumbled, trying to shake it off. But she couldn't. The irritation and anger in his voice was so hurtful. He was the last person she'd expect to treat her like that…

She began walking towards the ruins, knowing full well that he would most likely be gone by the time she reached the palace, but she didn't care. Shahra would make him come back for her. Shahra still believed that Aly was a crucial part to the future of the Arabian Nights, but Aly didn't really believe it herself. Sonic seemed to be in control; he seemed like he could easily handle all this. Aly felt that Shahra had convinced herself that Aly was still useful just because they had grown so close.

She glanced with sorrow in the direction Sonic had gone. "Sorry…" she whispered, falling to her knees. She couldn't make herself keep going, her feelings were hurt too much, plus she was exhausted. She wasn't used to running around so early.

* * *

Running stripped away all Sonic's negative emotions. He loved running. He felt the irritation lift out of his fur, cast off into the dust. He skidded to a stop in front of a huge building, which he took to be the palace of King Shahryar. He took in a deep breath, and looked behind him, not really knowing what to expect.

He only saw the ruins, and beyond that, he could just barely make out the horizon. Of course she wouldn't have followed, it's not like she would have been able to. And with the way he'd acted, he didn't think she'd want to follow. He flicked his ears in frustration. She was only joking! Plus, he really was being a bit of a show off. They were supposed to be working together on this adventure, not trying to outpace each other. She probably thought by now that he was merely an egotistical jerk, not caring about who he hurt. _No, I care a lot! And I need to start showing it, instead of just making things worse. Why can't we get along for longer than a moment?_

"Shahra, what do you think I should do? Should we go to the king first, or do you think I should wait for Aly?" Sonic rubbed the ring to call her forth.

Shahra appeared to be deep in thought as she floated next to him. "She would probably head here eventually, I say we go look for the king before we look for her. She shouldn't get into any trouble in the short amount of time it would take her to get here. At least, we better hope she doesn't."

Sonic nodded, and with a final glance behind him, he walked into the palace. It was empty. "Where is he? Are we too late?" Sonic asked Shahra. He had barely gotten the words out before a nearby pot shattered, and someone popped out. Recognition flashed across Sonic's face. "What's Eggman doing here? Aha! I should have known. This is all just another one of your ever-failing schemes!"

The man he was addressing was a tall, egg-shaped man. He looked exactly like Eggman from Sonic's world, only instead of his red jumpsuit and his black pants and shoes, he was wearing traditional Arabian Royal clothing, which was a turban with a large feather sticking out from the top, and a long, flowing cape behind his large, baggy shirt and pants. He still wore the small blue glasses just like Eggman, and he also had the large mustache and absence of hair on his head.

"What? What is the meaning of all this? I am Shahryar, king of this land!" The person replied.

"Eggman, what are you up to this time?" Sonic asked with irritation, taking a threatening step towards him.

"Wait, Sonic, this is him! This is King Shahryar!" Shahra said, stepping between the two males.

"Really?" He replied with surprise, standing up straight again.

"What is the meaning of this? Guards! Seize this blue….er…spiky thing at once!" Shahryar yelled out….but as time passed, nothing happened.

"Where are your men, Your Highness?" Shahra asked with worry, glancing around the empty palace.

"Oh, yes, let me explain," the king began, stroking his big mustache. "When the evil spirits appeared out of no where, everyone turned and ran, and I was stuck having to hide in this jar." The King took in a breath, as though he were going to continue, but before he could make any sound, a pterosaur flew through the window, snatching him up.

"Nooo! Help meee!" He called out in dismay as the pterosaur flew off. On its back, both Sonic and Shahra could see the Erazor Djinn, smirking over his shoulder at the two.

"Well, I suppose it's time for a little action, eh?" Sonic asked, returning the Erazor's smirk. He turned swiftly around to Shahra, remembering Aly. "But…what about Aly?"

Shahra hesitated. "We either risk losing Aly to trouble, or we risk losing sight of that pterosaur. I have a pretty good idea of where it is heading, whereas we have no idea where Aly could run off to, once she finds out no one's here any longer."

Sonic nodded. "So, we just run outside the palace real quick, grab Aly, and take off after that oversized reptile-bird-thing ridden by the homicidal, maniac genie. Makes sense to me!" He took off out the front door, in the direction he'd come from. He didn't have to travel far before he skidded to a stop in front of Aly. She stood before him, her face portraying absolutely no emotion. "Come on, we don't have time for anything, the king has been kidnapped by—" He barely got the words out before a mutated sand scorpion crawled out of the sand before him, viciously trying to attack him. "Dang! Shahra! Do we have enough time to fight this thing?"

"Looks like it doesn't matter, he'll chase you anyways! Hurry up and beat it, the King needs us!" She replied.

"Hm, I'll make you pay for this delay!" Sonic shouted a challenge at the beast. "Hey, pay, delay, it all rhymes! I'm a poet and didn't know it!" He laughed and looked over at Aly. She had turned around, and he could see that she wasn't smiling. "What?" He reached out to her, but she jumped away.

"Just attack the stupid thing, and let's get going," she said emotionlessly.

"Well, whatever," he shrugged off her distant behavior. "Alright, time for some butt-kicking—Shahra, what's wrong?" He asked, noticing her sad expression. "Hey, don't look so upset, alright? I'll have you smiling by the end of this. And that's not me ordering you as your master. That's a promise, from me to you." He held out his pinkie to her.

"Yes…all right." She completed the pinkie promise. "A promise…" she whispered, looking at her finger.

"All right, let's do this!" Sonic said. He targeted the thing's eyes on its back and repeatedly kicked and punched them until they shut. Then he tried to attack the eye that was (creepily) inside its mouth. It shot out to attack him, but he air-dashed forward to meet it, and began to spin-dash it just like he did the other eyes, careful to avoid the teeth. He did this repeatedly until the monster died from exhaustion.

"Whew! That didn't take too long," Sonic gloated as he watched the scorpion explode into bits of dark magic that scattered soon after the monster dissipated.

"Sonic, look!" Shahra pointed to a ring that was lying in the sand where the monster had disappeared. It was a golden color, similar to Aly's quills. Arabic symbols were engraved all over it, glowing white with powerful magic.

"This must be one of the world rings the Erazor was talking about!" Sonic exclaimed, walking up to it to get a closer look.

Shahra attempted to pick it up, but her hand just went through it. "I can't pick it up…" she said, confused.

Sonic bent down and picked it up. When he touched it, sparks flew from the ring. "Ow!" he yelled.

"'When darkness descends upon the Arabian Nights, the legendary blue hedgehog from another world shall come,'" Aly began reciting the ancient legend she'd learned by heart. She hadn't meant to say anything, but something seemed to have pulled it out of her.

"Me? Legendary? You've got to be kidding! Aw, you're going to make me blush!" He winked. She closed her mouth and turned around, forcing herself to stay quiet, continuing to ignore him.

"'When the seven rings that control the worlds are gathered, the portal between the worlds shall open. But the life of the collector of the rings shall be offered up in sacrifice as the key for that control.'" Shahra finished off the legend in a grave voice.

"Say what? I'm supposed to be a sacrifice?" Sonic exclaimed, taking a step back.

"That, I cannot say for sure. But I do believe that these World Rings hold the key to some kind of mystery," Shahra admitted. "And I think that we need to collect them to get to the bottom of this mystery."

Sonic pointed to the arrow in his heart. "Well, considering I still have this arrow in me to worry about, I guess I'm in a pinch either way, right?"

"I'm sorry," Shahra said sadly. "It's my fault that all of this is happening to—"

"Hahaha, hey, don't worry about it!" Sonic cut her off. "Besides, don't you know how fast I am? Time may fly, but I'm even faster!" Sonic assured her, turning back in the direction the dinosaur had taken off. "We need to move fast, so just hold on, okay?" He turned to Aly, picking her up in his arms and taking off as fast as he could after the swiftly disappearing shape of the pterosaur. She held tightly to him, still betraying no emotion. She told herself that she had to show no emotion, or else she'd get back into a friendship-like relationship with Sonic, and then they'd fight again, and she'd be broken once again. She had to stop the cycle before it got worse. She knew they'd keep fighting like this if they talked outside of the mission ahead, they were just too different of individuals. So she held tightly and said nothing, just let the wind whistle through her ears. She saw the far-off image of Dinosaur Jungle, and noticed that they were swiftly gaining on the pterosaur.

"Sonic, you need to slow down. Put me down, I can keep up now," she said dryly as they reached the end of the desert and the start of a jungle of over-grown plants. He skidded to a stop and set her down, sensing that something was off.

"Aly? What's wrong?" He asked.

She remained silent, and instead started running in their original direction, using the various trees and cliff-sides as springboards to help her move faster. "Did I really hurt her that much?" He asked no one in particular, taking off after her.

* * *

Nya! I was proofreading this chappie when I realized...I'd completely forgotten all about the dadgum Sand Scorpion! So I had to throw him in this chapter somewhere...so this chapter may not seem to flow together as well as the others. Sorry about that! But I couldn't leave out the battle (which I sucked at describing...) since that's how Sonic gets the first World Ring. Bleh, dadgum bosses! Anyways, if you've got a better idea of how this chapter could be written in order to make it flow together better, I'm all for it! Send in your suggestions! Thanks for being such loyal readers, I'm glad you're enjoying the story! As always, reviews are wanted and hard criticism is greatly appreciated. If there are any typos, I believe that by now you know what to do!

*~Soul Pieces signin' out!~*


	6. Dinosaur Jungle

**Chapter 5—Dinosaur Jungle**

"Aly! Wait up!" Sonic dashed after her, yelling the one phrase he never thought he'd ever have to yell at anyone. The fastest thing alive; asking someone to wait up? So unnatural. "What's wrong? Tell me!" He called. She had to stop at the edge of the large cliff, skidding to a stop just short of the edge. Sonic watched in horror as she jumped off the edge, and heard a splash below. A shiver went through his fur. He couldn't swim! He looked down and saw giant lily pads floating all over the river below, leading into a beautiful cave. Aly climbed up onto one, then took off leaping. Sonic sucked in a nervous breath, then jumped after her, landing squarely on a lily pad, which didn't give in the slightest. "Aly, please!" He called, losing speed. He wasn't used to jumping in the place of running, especially not in a place as dark as this.

Aly heard him calling for her, but she kept focused on the goal ahead. They just needed to finish their adventure, then he could go back to his world, and she could stay here, and they wouldn't fight and she wouldn't be so hurt anymore. His calls got fainter behind her as she continued, and she turned to see that she was easily outpacing him now. _Of course, he has to stop and jump to make it so far, while all I have to do is just keep running. _She skidded into a turn-around stop and waited for him.

Both hedgehogs had to admit, the cave was gorgeous. The water reflected onto the walls, making moving murals all through the cave. A few dinosaurs with crested heads were on an island nearby, drinking from the crystal clear water and napping. The waves from the moving water glided past the cave walls and made peaceful noises as they ran into each other. Beautiful rock formations also added to the charm and majesty of the cave. At the far end, where the two were headed, the river abruptly ended and a new leg of the cave began, but it turned suddenly and Aly couldn't see any farther down the cave.

Sonic over-jumped his next jump and tackled Aly, pinning her down while she was distracted with observing her surroundings. "Why won't you talk to me, Aly? I'm sorry I snapped at you, I just hate being told what to do, okay? Don't just ignore me! And stop fighting me! I just want an explanation."

Aly just kept fighting, trying to keep from crying in frustration. Finally she stopped moving all together, and looked away from Sonic, letting all her muscles go limp.

"Aly, don't be like this; talk to me!" Sonic nearly commanded her. He reached down and tried to turn her face to him.

"Stop it!" She finally yelled out, swatting him with her now free hand. Sonic pinned it back down again, and looked her straight in the eyes.

"Aly…" he begged her. "Tell me what's wrong. I apologized but you're still ignoring me. I thought we were friends, why are you doing this?"

Aly sucked in a breath. "Look, we keep fighting, and it always ends in us getting off-track and distracting us from our main goal. We don't have time. Have you forgotten about that arrow? I haven't. You need to get back to your world, anyways, and I need to go on with my life. Alright? So it's better that we just don't talk much, and focus on the task at hand, okay?" she said, fighting to keep her voice from breaking. "A friendship between us isn't going to matter after this anyways. You'll be leaving." She finally lost her battle with her voice, nearly squeaking out her last words.

Sonic shook his head. "It doesn't have to be that way. We aren't going to fight anymore, because I'm going to control my temper and watch what I say and not be so cocky, okay? That's a better idea, I think. Because then I'm not losing a friend, and no one is getting hurt. Yeah, that's a way better idea. And I told you, you could come with me back to my world! You'd love living there, everyone's so great!" He tried to give her his trademark grin.

"…Sonikku…" Aly closed her eyes and shook her head. "No, because I've already been hurt enough. I don't want to have to do it again, and it's safer for me to just not talk to you at all. No one gets hurt this way. And I can't go back with you. I should stay here." Tears began leaking out of her jade green eyes.

"Don't say that," Sonic replied gently. "I won't hurt you again. I promise you, I won't," he sat beside her and pulled her into a close hug. "And someone is getting hurt. Me. Because then I'm losing a friend. I can't stand losing a friend. Especially one I'm close to like I am to you. And I barely know you! We just really click, ya know? At least, that's how I feel. So, for my sake, don't do this. And as for which world you want to live in…that's your decision. But don't make us stop being friends just because of that," he rested a hand on her shoulder, giving her a softer, more caring smile.

Aly seemed to relax for a second, but then she shoved him away. "I can't do that. I'm sorry," she whispered, and then took off in the direction they'd been heading, out into the drier part of the cave.

Sonic tried to follow after her, but his heart just wasn't into running now, and he didn't move as fast as her. He was too busy thinking of things to say to convince her that she didn't have to do this; that things didn't have to be this way. He dropped his thoughts and picked up speed, however, when he heard her scream in terror. He rounded the corner and faced the Erazor Djinn, who held her by her wrist. "Let her go!" Sonic yelled, spinning into a ball and aiming for the Erazor. He used Aly as a shield, and Sonic hit her instead. She yelped in pain, and Sonic fell back to the ground, frozen by the amount of pain he'd heard in Aly's voice. He couldn't stand hurting her! (Or anyone he cared about, really.)

"Be patient, rat," the Erazor growled. "Although, I suppose you really have no _time_ to be patient, am I right?" He gestured towards the flame in Sonic's chest, which shrunk a frightening bit.

"Well, I'd have plenty of time, if you'd mind letting go of my friend!" Sonic retorted, regaining his composure. "We have places to go, you know. A few rings to collect, a bunch of spirits to beat, things like that."

"I am aware of that. However, this little rat does seem to cause you delay, does she not? What trouble she must cause you," he picked Aly up by her wrists. She had stopped struggling now by now and looked away from the dark genie.

"She isn't trouble! She's my friend and she's helping me!" Sonic growled. "If anything is slowing me down, it's you!"

"Hmm…well then, you've caught me. You don't think she's trouble? How about I scatter the pieces of her soul for you to collect! Then we'll see if she's well worth the delays she's causing! I don't enjoy waiting so long for my World Rings." With that, the Erazor began to chant an ancient spell, and a dark purple ring formed around Aly. She looked at Sonic, fear clouding her eyes, but otherwise she could not move. The Erazor let go of her wrists, and sparks began to zap her heart. She screamed, and fell to the ground. Sonic watched, mortified, as five transparent, gray-tinted images of Aly's human form left her body and floated up to the sky, giggling as they disappeared.

"What did you do to her?" He yelled in rage, rushing to her side. He checked her pulse. She was still alive, but her body was cold, and she didn't move or show any signs of life. "Give her back now!" He commanded the Erazor.

"You dare to order **me** around? I am carving this world now, I will do as I please, and no rat will stand in my way!" He pulled out his sword and struck out at Sonic and Aly. Sonic picked her up and tried to move away, but the sword glanced off his shoulder, and he flew back from the impact. "Now you get to make a choice: either search for the five pieces of her soul and hope that you do not run out of time, or get those rings for me. I just _might_ give her back to you if you chose the latter. But it's very unlikely," he sneered. With an evil laugh, the Erazor disappeared.

"No…" Sonic mumbled, looking at Aly's unmoving body. "I'm going to restore you to normal, Aly. I'm fast enough that we won't run out of time. You'll be back to normal in no time…I'm the fastest thing alive, I always have time…" he managed, his voice filled with grief.

"Sonic…you're hurt. Let me heal you," Shahra offered, placing a hand on his shoulder. Her magic immediately made the cut disappear, as though there'd never been a cut there in the first place. The sting of the cut disappeared along with it, but Sonic hardly noticed.

"You may be able to heal that wound, Shahra, but you can't heal Aly."

"No…I'm sorry," she said sadly, bowing her head in defeat.

"Come on, Shahra, we need to go save the king. Then we'll decide what to do next," he said, standing up. Shahra carried Aly using her magic, then they took off in the direction they had been heading, and soon they left the cave reached a high cliff. Sonic looked up and saw the pterosaur, which was holding King Shahryar's cape with his beak. The king was struggling to get free.

"You! Spiky thing! Do something! Save me!" He called down to Sonic. Suddenly, he broke free, and started falling towards the ground. "Aaaahhhhh!"

Shahra closed her eyes to avoid seeing him fall, but when he stopped yelling, she opened her eyes. Sonic was standing with his arms crossed in a bored expression; his right foot hanging over the cliff. Shahryar's cape was caught on his shoe. She sighed in relief.

The king began to flail his fists in the air in anger towards Sonic. "How dare you! I am the King! Must you be so rude?" He yelled.

"Sorry!" Sonic replied sarcastically.

"Your Highness, where did that spirit go?" Shahra asked.

"Just as feared, he's gone ahead to that castle and it seems more minions are being assembled!"

"Castle? What castle" Sonic asked. He looked off into the distance, and noticed an evil-looking building just on the horizon. "Oh. That castle."

"There's a giant fortress just ahead," Shahra explained. "It's a relic from an ancient kingdom—"

"Hey, look at that!" Sonic interrupted her, noticing something in the bushes.

"It's another one of the world rings!" Shahra exclaimed. "It must have been dropped by that dinosaur!" This ring was a deep emerald green, like Sonic's eyes, and again glowed with the engraved Arabic symbols. Sonic reached down to pick it up. Once again, sparks flew from the ring. "Ah, this power—" he exclaimed.

"This must be what has driven the spirits mad," Shahra said. "It's only recently that they have been behaving in this way."

"Well, I think I've had just about enough of this! Speaking of which, as Genie of the Ring, can I ask you for a favor?" He asked, rubbing the ring.

"O Master, your wish is my command." Shahra bowed in respect.

"Do you think you can take this Judgment thing outta my chest for me? It would be nice to be able to collect Aly's soul and the rings without a time limit," he pointed to the flame, hope filling his voice.

"…I am sorry. It is not within my power…" She bowed her head, sad that she couldn't help her master out.

"Hey, no worries. Cheer up!" He told her optimistically.

"Hm?"

"Don't sweat it! Anyways, no adventure is fun if it's too easy, right?" He said, trying to sound happy. "Although it would have been nice if your magic DID work, in any case…" he added, his voice falling just a bit.

"Sonic, what are you going to do now?" Shahra asked, changing the subject.

"Let's look at our choices, shall we?" He said. "It's either leave Aly the way she is, go and collect the rest of the rings, and probably never get her back, or we could go and look for the pieces of her soul that are now scattered throughout this world, hope I don't run out of time, and then try to collect the rings," he took a nervous breath. "I don't know about you, but I think we should try to piece her soul back together. But I don't know, maybe I only think that because…well…she's special to me," he added softly, a bit embarrassed that he might be falling for the girl he'd just met a day ago.

"Then I think you should do that, Sonic. You're the legendary hedgehog. It…shouldn't be that hard…" she said, although in her heart she knew it would probably be next to impossible. "I can give you a bit of information about this situation, if you'd like."

"I'm all ears. Anything that helps is good."

"All right then. As you noticed, her soul is split into spirit versions of herself—her _human_ self. They're transparent, but they can speak, think for themselves, and you can touch them. They might as well not be spirits, because you can touch them, talk to them, and they can be hurt. The only difference is that they are much, much faster. That's how you'll have to collect the pieces; you have to beat them in a race. I know you believe that you'll beat them easy, but the courses are always packed with obstacles and it's hard to get a constant speed going. It'll be a big challenge for you, I know."

"I don't care what kind of challenge it is, it's still only Aly!" He said with his trademark cocky attitude.

"Also, her soul is split into the five senses, and with each sense comes memories, emotions, the ability to move around, and so forth. With the sense of taste comes her ability to speak. With her sense of hearing comes the ability to think and remember. With the sense of sight, her emotions return. With her sense of touch, she'll be able to move around again. With the sense of smell comes her ability to breathe and control her body heat. That's why you don't see her moving at all, and why she's so cold," Shahra finished.

Sonic looked sadly down at her. "She just looks so…lifeless. I feel…I feel like I've completely lost her! Like…even if we gather back the pieces of her soul, she won't come back to me…" he whispered.

"She will, but for right now, her body remains dormant. She can't hear or feel anything, so at least you know she isn't suffering," Shahra sounded unsure about the last part.

Sonic stroked one of her quills. "Shahra, how do you know all this?" He asked suddenly.

"Because you wish to know about this, and you're my master, and I have enough power to supply you with that much."

He nodded. "Then…can you locate where each of her soul pieces are, in order to save time?"

"I may be able to…but they move around; she won't exactly wait for you," she warned. "But…which one would you like to recover first?"

He thought for a moment. "Let's go with her sense of smell first. I can't stand her looking so lifeless." He stood up, holding her. "Wow, she's a little bit heavier as deadweight," he commented. A small smile appeared on his face. "Hey, Aly, do you wanna lay off some of the sweets?" He joked, even though he knew she couldn't hear him. "Don't worry," he whispered to her. "I'm going to put your soul back together."

Shahra laughed, glad that he was at least able to joke a bit. "Then we need to go back to the Sand Oasis. That's where she currently is now."

"Alright then, let's go!" He took off.

* * *

In yet another sticky situation, Aly just really seems to attract trouble, doesn't she? Sharah did say that trouble has a way of finding her And maybe Sonic seems a bit O.O.C., here, but he's just showin' his more caring side, of course! So no hatin'. Anyways, hope you're all enjoying the story! Will Aly ever become complete again, or has the Erazor cast her soul so far apart that it's impossible to ever be complete again? Does Shahra know something about Aly's situation that she's not letting on to Sonic? Will Sonic be able to collect all 7 World Rings _and_ all 5 pieces of Aly's broken soul before his judgment comes? Keep reading on to find out! Reviews are asked for, and criticism is always good!

*~Soul Pieces signin' out!~*


	7. Interlude: Life on the Streets

**Interlude 2—Life on the Streets**

_I know that I am lucky to have escaped. Even though I have already been pregnant twice, and had to abort both times, I know I am extremely lucky. I remember the look of some of those girls who had been trapped for years. Four months was nothing, compared to what they had been through. I had learned that when the man was drunk was the best time to try to escape. I rub my bleeding shoulder, shuddering at how close he had come to killing me. I head to the nearest pharmacy to buy some bandages. Maybe most people nowadays steal, but I will always stand by justice, and I'll get my things the right way. I still had a lot of money save up from working so long ago, so I know I'll last a while. Maybe I'll make it through these hard times._

_I pass by a shop window and notice my reflection. My eyes shine a defiant jade green. My skin is still pale, and my blonde hair is turning darker thanks to the conditions I had been in. I am extremely malnourished. Although I can't see it, I know there is an ugly scar, opened twice, on my stomach. I think of the fetus' lives that were ended before they could begin. I know I had done them a favor, though. This was no time for anything to be born._

_My eyes have dark circles underneath them, and my lips are severely chapped. There are bruises running up and down my arms and legs; scars of my horrors. I have scrapes, cuts, bullet holes, and welts all over me. It is obvious that I have not had a good life._

_But now, I'm fifteen. And I'm living on the streets, and I will take good care of myself. I've got enough money to spare me, plus I may be able to work part-time in some of these stores that are still open._

_I walk into the pharmacy. I feel tears begin to form. My father was a pharmacist. I never had to worry about medicine when I was young. It would have been a nice feeling to have, these days._

_The pharmacist eyes me nervously. He is an older man, balding with gray hair in a normal white coat, like my father used to wear. His glasses look to be brand new and overall he is obviously a very clean-kept man, but with the way he watches everything, I know he is scared of what may happen to him due to the fact he runs a drug store. I must look like a rough kid, but I smiled sweetly to him, and he relaxes. I try to make small talk. Then, I show him my shoulder, and decide to tell him what I'd been through. He seems genuinely concerned. He hands me medication to clean the wound, and gives me some pills. He tells me that I can get everything half-off. I look at the pills. They're for a vitamin deficiency. I thank him profusely; I've always needed these. I am a picky eater to begin with, and I've always had a hard time with keeping the right vitamins in me. These past few years have just made it worse for me. I pay for my things, and then leave, telling him that I wish him the best of luck._

_I leave this part of town and head to a more populated area. I don't like being alone. I could easily be taken off with, and no one would know. But I also don't like being among so many people, because you never know who's going to knife you or try to pick on you._

_I sit down on a bench and sigh. I have been walking all day, and it feels good to rest. My mind flashes to all my friends, who now know nothing of my whereabouts, except for Will. I had called him earlier and told him what had happened to me. He tells me that his family moved away, and that he is no longer where he can come to me. I admit my feelings to him, finally. I tell him of how, ever since that day when I was 12, when we watched the sunrise together in the freezing cold. It feels good to get it all off my chest. He tells me he's always felt the same, but he didn't want to chance our friendship. "I understand," I tell him. "We'll be best friends forever," he promises me. I will always hold that promise close to my heart. He knows I will. Then we hang up._

_And now I have no clue where to go. All my friends are gone. I don't have a home to return to. I decide to go to a fast-food place for something to eat. I head to the bank first to withdraw more money. Everywhere I go, people stare. Some are teens, looking admirably at my scars. Some are adults, who shy away from me as if I am going to attack them. One boy asks me if I got them in bed. I sucker-punch him in the face, telling him that I was not that kind of girl, and warning that he'd better leave me be. He continues to make rude jokes and I am overcome with rage. I hate boys; I hate the male race all together. I pin him down and begin to attack without mercy, and blood begins to pour from his nose, eyes, and ears. Suddenly, I am exhausted. I leave him lying there and continue walking. Now everyone avoids me. _That's okay_, I think. _I don't want to be bugged.

_I suddenly want to speak to Will again. I don't understand why, but I go on ahead and use a payphone to call him. He answers on the first ring. Something's wrong, I can hear it in his voice._

_"Aly," he says, "remember the promise I made you?"_

_I tell him I do._

_"Always remember it. I'll be watching over you. I'm your guardian angel. I'll see you in heaven," his voice breaks. I ask him what's happening._

_"They've broken into our house. We're each allowed one last phone call before we die. I'm not aloud to say who it is that's here. You were the one I wanted to talk to; I just didn't know how to reach you. I'm glad you called. I've been in love with you for so long, and I still love you. I'm gonna always love you, and now the Lord is giving me the best chance to protect you. I promise, I will do everything—" he breaks off, and I hear him choking back tears. He continues when he regains his composure. "—everything within my ability to ensure that you get out of here, and I promise you're going to find a boy who you will love with all your heart," he finishes. I hear a deep voice talking to him._

_"My time is up. I love you, baby."_

_"Will, I love you too. I'm so grateful that you're able to finally leave this world. You know what's happened to me; be glad that you won't be suffering anymore. I accept you as my guardian angel."_

_I hear a loud clattering as the phone falls to the floor, and a deep voice says something I hardly catch. I hear shuffling, and then I hear him call out, "he's already dead!" I hear scrambling, and two other voices announce that his parents are both dead too. All the men are terrified now, claiming that whoever Will called must be a witch._

_I smile to myself and hang up the phone. God showed Will and his family mercy by taking them before they could be tortured and killed. I feel big, strong arms around me, but no one's there. I close my eyes happily, and I whisper,_

"_Hello, Will." I turn my face up to the bleak grey sky and open my eyes. "And thank You, God."_

_My guardian angel has come to protect me._

* * *

Nya! So sad, I know. Maybe this will give readers a bit more understanding as to why Aly is so moody. This interlude came in a bit sooner than the other one, and therefore the next interlude won't appear for quite a few chappies. This one's relatively short, but I hope y'all are likin it! I actually started crying when I wrote this...maybe I'm just a tad emotional? Haha, reviews are asked for, and feel free to point out anything you don't like. You know what to do if there's a typo, and I'll catch ya later!

*~Soul Pieces signin' out!~*


	8. Collecting the First Piece

_**Chapter 6—Collecting the First Piece**_

Sonic made his way back to the oasis, holding tight to Aly. He thought about the flame that was currently piercing his heart. He knew it was getting smaller every day, but to him, Aly was more important. He then thought of his motto. "If you have time to worry, then run." Well, he was certainly running, although he was still worried about having enough time to get Aly back together and still avoid the judgment.

He slowed as he reached the ruins. "Hey, Aly's spirit! Come out; come out, wherever you are!" He called. "Hey, come on, Aly! You know I don't have much time, so can't you go a bit easier on me?" He joked.

He heard giggling coming from behind a nearby pillar. It sounded like Aly. He laid her body down and jumped around the pillar. "Gotcha!" He yelled with happiness when he saw the human spirit floating there. She smiled at him. She was wearing short-shorts that showed off her pale legs, running shoes, and a simple blue tee. Much like her hedgehog self, her hair was pulled back into a ponytail with a few strands of hair hanging down to frame her face. Sonic noticed bruises and cuts all over her and decided he'd ask Shahra about them later.

"Not yet, hedgehog! First you have to beat me in a race. If you beat me, I'll come back with you! And no going easy, alright?" She laughed again_. This spirit is really happy_, he thought. _I wonder if they're all like that. I hope. I like seeing Aly happy, even though this is just a piece of her._

"Okay then, 'other hedgehog'," he grinned when she giggled, happy to know that this spirit remembered, even though in this form she was a human, and not even fully real. "And hey, make up your mind already! Do you want me to go easy on you or not?"

She just giggled and said, "Follow me! Oh, and Shahra, can you stay here and watch over my body? This will be the goal!" She took off in the opposite direction, but Sonic hung back for a second.

"Shahra, why is it that she looks so beaten up?" Sonic turned to ask the genie.

"This is exactly what she looked like on the day we entered this world and she gave up her human form. Right down to the shoes and hair style," Shahra replied, lost in the memories. "Her injuries were result of her hard life."

Sonic nodded in understanding, remembering the ordeals she told him she had gone through in her other world. He shook his head, upset for her sake that she had to suffer through any of that. He snapped out of his thoughts and turned around to catch up with the spirit. He looked at the course they were going to run. There were broken pillars and pots everywhere all along the path. Shahra was right; there wasn't much room to pick up speed in. This was definitely her element; it involved a lot of jumping.

"Alright, I'll count us off!" She said, coming to a halt. Sonic skidded in line beside her. "And don't worry, I won't do anything crazy with my counting, I'll be fair. There's no fun in cheaters, huh, Sonikku?" She giggled, and Sonic's heart skipped a beat to hear her nickname for him.

"3…2…1…**GO**!" She yelled out, taking off. He noticed she'd given him a split second head start. _So, she actually wants to be back with her body. It must be hard on her, being nothing but a spirit. I wonder if she's being forced to challenge me like this by the Erazor's magic._

He tried to use short jumps as much as he could, but it was hard to do so over the large pillars. She was keeping pace with him, but she wasn't going very fast. _I wonder how fast her spirit can go. Knowing the Erazor's magic, she probably has the ability to go faster than me. She is, after all, just a spirit. There's not really any weight to slow her down or anything._

At first he thought that she was just trying to let him win, but then he realized her plan. It was the same as what he tried to do in their first race: keep an even pace at first, and then pack on speed along the final stretch. He picked up speed. He knew he was going to need to be ahead as much as he could be.

She suddenly began to try to catch up. She was soon beside him again, giggling. _Why is she laughing so much?_ He wondered. _Oh, I think I get it. Just like the World Rings, her different pieces must contain different emotions. This one is supposed to be joyful and everything that goes along with it, so she can't cry. So she laughs. She's crying,_ he realized. _Wait, where'd that come from_? He wondered.

_It came from me, silly_! He heard her happy, sing-song voice echo throughout his mind. _I want you to know what's really happening, and not just trust what you see._ Her voice giggled.

_Poor Aly…_ he thought helplessly.

He knew now that speeding wasn't going to work; she'd only catch up to him. She was holding back, for his sake! Just to make him think that he was doing well. So his only other option was to strategize. _Well, pretty much the only thing I can do is try to slow her down…which means attacking her, he thought sadly._ He remembered her cry when he'd hit her by mistake instead of the Erazor. He couldn't hurt her on purpose!

_Come on, Sonic! She needs to be whole again. You're going to have to hurt her to heal her. _He told himself. _Oh yeah, that totally makes sense!_ He thought sarcastically.

"Sorry about this, Aly!" He said, finally making up his mind and swirling into a ball. He preformed a spin attack on her, and she laughed loudly, falling to the ground.

He was nearing the goal. He put on a last burst of speed and pushed past the finish line, and felt Aly run past him, giggling.

"Hey, you beat me!" She said. "Just barely. But, a win is a win," she stopped her giggling. She looked him straight in the eyes and said, in a fading voice, "Thank you, Sonikku. I believe in you..." her voice faded as she turned into a glowing ball and returned to her body. Sonic rushed over to her and put a hand on her head. He felt heat begin to return to her, and he sighed with relief. He pulled her close to him. "Thank God…" he murmured. "You had me worried sick, Aly! " He scolded her. "Don't you know by now you shouldn't run from me?"

"Um…she still can't hear you…you do know that, right?" Shahra said cautiously.

Sonic whipped around to face her, embarrassed. "Yeah, um, of course I know that Shahra!" he said nervously.

"Hm?" Shahra wondered. _He really confuses me,_ she thought.

"Come on. We have four more pieces of her soul to collect, and also those seven world rings. Let's go—" he was cut off as he noticed an alarmingly familiar face being surrounded by evil genies farther off through the ruins. He laid Aly back down in the sand. "Shahra, excuse me for a moment," he said, using a homing attack on the two genies that were surrounding a two-tailed fox.

They were easily defeated, and Shahra floated over to Sonic, carrying Aly using her magic.

"Oh, thank you so much," the fox said gratefully. "I thought I was done for!"

"Tails? What are you doing here, too?" Sonic asked him.

"…Tails? My…my name is Ali Baba!" He replied.

"Come on, Tails, I know it's you!" Sonic playfully punched him in the shoulder.

"I'm very sorry, he seems to have mistaken you for someone else," Shahra said to the confused Ali Baba. She moved between the two.

"Oh, it's okay!" he replied happily. "I'm still very grateful that you saved me! I might not be very strong, but I've still got some tricks up my sleeve. If you ever need my help in return, it would be the least I could do to repay you."

"Thank you, we'll be sure to call you, if anything comes up," Shahra said.

"Actually, there is something you might be able to help us with!" Sonic said. "Have you happened to see anyone who looks like a transparent version of a blonde-haired, tall human girl with a ponytail like hers? She's wearing short-shorts, a blue tee, and running shoes. She'd be either really mad, sad, jealous, or one of the other emotions. It's a long story…" he added when he noted that Ali Baba was giving him a look that seemed to be saying, "Are you on drugs or something?"

"Oh…um, actually I noticed a girl giggling earlier, but I wasn't too sure that I wasn't hallucinating, because she was a transparent human. Guess I wasn't…" he trailed off when he noticed Sonic's face fall slightly. "What?"

"Oh, nothing. We already found her. Look, in short, an evil genie scattered five pieces of her soul and I've discovered that each one portrays a different emotion, and I need to find all of them really soon, because I don't have much time."

"Oh, I'm sorry then," Ali Baba replied sadly. "But hey, I'll keep an eye out, okay? Next time I know I won't be hallucinating. Um, they aren't going to attack me, are they?" He asked nervously.

Sonic laughed. "No, I'm pretty sure they won't. Well, maybe the angry one will, if there is one, but since there's four left, it's unlikely you'll run into her. Thanks for the help!" He called over his shoulder as he dashed off. Ali Baba waved slowly as he watched the strange hedgehog take off through the sands, then took off in the opposite direction by twirling his tails, lifting himself up into the air.

_Transparent humans? Genies breaking apart souls? Hedgehogs that move faster than the speed of sound? Man, what is this world coming to?_

* * *

"Shahra, where can we find her sense of hearing? I want her to remember what a great team we make, and I wanna remind her of what all she's missing!" He joked.

"The next piece is running around the Evil Foundry," she said after a pause. "It seems really mad."

"Alright, then, that's really convenient! We need to head there next anyways! Hey, maybe we won't have too much trouble finding all her soul pieces and collecting these world rings," he said, imagining Aly mad. He wondered if she used a Piko Piko hammer like Amy did. He laughed out loud at the thought of her truly angry.

"What is it?" Shahra asked.

"Oh, it's nothing," he said, still laughing. "Just remembering something funny back home. Come on, let's go!" He was still laughing as they picked up speed, trying to cover up his sadness concerning Aly's state of being.

* * *

Had to mention the hammer there, couldn't help it! A rather short chapter this time, I usually try to end these chapters when they enter into another part of the Arabian Nights. This is another chapter I had to suddenly revise because I almost forgot all about Ali Baba (Tails' counterpart in the game)! I mean, how can you forget wittle Tails? Eh, I felt kinda bad there for a bit. But I got over it ^w^ Hope you're enjoying the book as it plays out. Reviews are asked for, and criticism is always welcome! Be as hard on me as you see fit. A special _someone _is making an appearance in the next chapter! Tune in to find out who it is!

*~Soul Pieces signin' out!~*


	9. Rage, Explosions, and Ifrits

**Chapter 7—Rage, Explosions, and Ifrits**

"Whew! It's hot in here!" Sonic exclaimed as they entered the iron fortress. It was made entirely out of steel, with iron djinns and fire djinns running around the place, the sole guardians that were left of the foundry. "I'd be pretty angry, too, if I was stuck in a place like this!" He laughed, referring to Aly's next soul piece.. "Alright, so we need to track down this next piece of her soul—" Sonic cut off when he heard an explosion up ahead and seeing a few djinns flying in different directions. A yell of rage could be heard with the sight of each djinn sent flying. "Ah, I'm pretty sure I know who the cause of that is! Shahra! Stay here with Aly, okay?" He took off towards the explosion, leaving the two girls at the entrance by the somewhat cooler air blowing in from outside the foundry.

Shahra looked sadly at her best friend's nearly lifeless body. "Oh, Aly…you've been through so much…where is your guardian angel?" She asked sadly, stroking the hedgehog girl's quills.

"I'm still by her side," a male voice said to her. She snapped her head up in the direction it came from. A well-muscled, good looking boy with short, strawberry blonde hair and blue eyes was just barely visible in front of her. "Thanks, by the way, for looking out for her. She really needs it," he said fondly. "I'm Will, by the way."

"H-hello, Will," she said nervously, wondering if she was just hallucinating because of the heat. It was very likely "I am Shahra, Genie of the Ring."

"Yeah, I know, I've been following you guys this whole time. I'm glad Aly found someone else who makes her happy, other than me. I just wish she'd realize it!" Will laughed, glancing in the direction that the blue hedgehog had taken off in. "She's so resistant to her emotions, nowadays. She really likes Sonic, but she can't let it show; she's so afraid of being losing someone special again. I guess I'm to blame for that…" He sighed and looked at her again. "But that's all in the past. What happened, happened. She just has to learn to love again, and learn that sometimes God's got other plans that what we want to happen. But, hey, the Big Guy knows what He's doing!" He smiled sadly, glancing at the motionless hedgehog lying on the hot ground.

"She may look like a hedgehog to you all, but when I look at her, I see her as a human and as a hedgehog. She was so beautiful…" he mumbled sadly. "But, I'm happy to watch over her. I can help her now in ways I could never have helped her before. I'm the reason she didn't completely die when she stopped breathing. I suppose you know she should have been dead," he added.

"I did, but Sonic was so determined that he was going to save her, I couldn't tell him that it really was impossible, because I believed she was already dead. But I am glad that she has someone watching over her. You still miss her, don't you?" She asked.

"Of course. I wish I could have lived. No, scratch that, I wish none of it ever happened! I wish that we could have grown up in a normal time and had a normal life together. But she's happy now, and I'm able to protect her better like this. And that Sonic, he really is something," Will added with a grin. "He's crazy over her. And I think he plans to admit it to her, once he gets this next spirit. That's the real reason he wanted to find this one first." He knelt down and tried to stroke her quills, but his hand simply faded through her body. "Dang. I miss holding her," he murmured. "But, she's happy here. That's all I want. All I ever wanted was for her to be happy" He stood back up and looked Shahra in the eyes. "Thank you, Shahra, for giving her a second chance in a different world. And hey, you're eye-candy yourself, I must add. Ahaha! Aly would kill me if she heard me say that. But what can I do about it?" He shrugged. "See a pretty girl, tell her she's pretty." He laughed as Shahra blushed, then got serious again. "Shahra, you're future's gonna be great. I know it. Just hang in there, okay?" He knelt down and kissed Aly on the cheek as best as he could, in his state. "Miss you, baby girl," he whispered to her.

"It was nice to finally meet you, Will," Shahra smiled to him. "Aly's in good hands."

"Hahaha, Aly's been in good hands ever since Sonic entered this world!" He laughed. "And it was nice to finally get to talk to my girl's best friend. I can see why she likes you so much. Protect them both, okay?" He began to fade away.

Shahra nodded. "I will. With my life," she added softly.

* * *

"Hey, hey, hey! Calm down, Aly!" Sonic jumped back to avoid the golden hedgehog's fists. "Whoa, watch the face, please! I'm pretty sure you don't wanna ruin these looks!" He pointed to himself, laughing.

"Back off, hedgehog! It's your fault for making me run off and get caught in the first place!" She yelled angrily at him, her fists blazing with a magic fire.

"Hey, come on, let's race already so you can return to me!" Sonic had a feeling she'd accept, because that was all the other spirit wanted; was to be back with him.

Sure enough, it proved him right. Well, sorta. "FINE!" She yelled angrily. "Just so I can kick your sorry butt in payback for all this!" She took off towards the end of the long corridor. "From here to the entrance! Beat me and I'll come back to you! But you can't beat me!" She sneered.

Sonic kept his cool, despite the fact that he wanted to kill that spirit at that moment. He hated it when people insulted his speed. "I'll show you I can! You know, love makes people do crazy things!" He laughed, and then took off down the hall.

"What? What'd you say! Did you just say you loved me? **HOW DARE YOU TELL ME THAT WHEN I'LL NEVER REMEMBER IT! STUPID HEDGEHOG!**" She screamed out and blasted after him.

He laughed, it had worked! He couldn't run as fast as possible in this place, because it would take him too long to stop, and there was a metal door in the way up at the entrance. However, he ran as fast as he possibly could. He knew Mad Aly was slowly gaining on him, but the finish line was just before him, and Shahra was waiting for him. He put on a final burst of speed, and they both crossed at the same time. "Dang, guess we'll never know! Oh well, let's just say I won by the tiniest bit of a second, and you can come back with me! Sounds good to me!" He crossed his arms and flashed his trademark grin and thumbs up at her.

"Why'd you have to tell me you loved me when I won't remember?" She yelled angrily at him. "**STUPID HEDGEHOG**, you only won because your nose is so long!" She began turning into a ball of light.

"Hey, I got you back, didn't I?" He laughed.

"Yes you did! How do you know that I don't want to come back?" Her voice began fading.

"Because. You know you want to come back," he added with a soft smile. He could barely make out a "Stupid hedgehog," from the second spirit, and her image faded as the ball of light made its way over to her body. Aly shook slightly as it entered her, but otherwise did nothing.

He walked slowly over to her body and picked her up. "Aly, it's me, Sonic. You can hear me now. But you can't feel anything, so I'll describe what you should be feeling."

Shahra silently disappeared back into the ring while he was talking, deciding that they needed their time alone.

"I'm holding you right now, and I am so tired because I have to find all the pieces of your soul, but it's worth it, really, because I'll have you back soon. We're currently in a place called 'The Evil Foundry,' and I just had to race one of your soul pieces. They're scattered about this world, and they look like what you did on your last day as a human, only ghost-like. It was so funny, this last soul was so mad, but she really wanted back with me. But everything I did just made her even madder, because of the Erazor's magic. I obviously still got you back,though. Your soul pieces all have emotions. The first one I found was joy and all those kinds of emotions. It was nice to be able to see you smile again.

"But…you weren't really smiling. It's the magic of the Erazor Djinn that limits their emotions. Really, you were crying on the inside, but since you couldn't cry, you just giggled. It reminded me of how, even when you're upset, you still try to smile, try to hide your emotions."

Sonic stopped for a moment, then took a shaky breath. "And…I think you try to smile for **me,** because you know how much that means to me; how much **you** mean to me. I don't know how much I mean to you, but I'm just going to say this now: you are **everything** to me. The soul piece you just got back was so angry because I told her something, something you wouldn't remember once she became a part of you again. So, I'm going to just repeat what I had said. Love makes people do crazy things, and right now, I really am crazy. I'm looking for your soul pieces instead of the rings because, well, I want you back, and I'm not going to let some stupid flame separate me from you. Be mad at me over later, okay? As in, sometime after I save this world **and** have you back," he chuckled.

"And, that's about all that's going on. And now I'm going to hug you tight, because I like to be close to you. I'm going to look for your sense of feeling next. That way, you'll know when I hug you, and you'll be able to hug me back. I promise you, I will save you **and** this world. I promise on everything that has any value to me," he murmured.

He felt her breathing rate quicken as he held her close, finishing off his statement, and knew that she had heard everything. He smiled and called for Shahra. "You're going to have to carry her with your magic again, Shahra. We still have things to do here." She nodded and followed after Sonic as he took off deeper into the foundry, defeating any evil spirits along the way that remained after Spirit Aly's rampage.

The air grew hotter still as they neared the core. "Whew, it's really hot in here!" Shahra exclaimed as Sonic ducked past enormous fans and spiked walls that flung themselves out at him.

"You're not gonna melt, are you, Shahra?" Sonic teased as he jumped onto an iron rail, grinding his way down the hallways. He, too, was beginning to be affected by the heat. "Hey, you don't think Aly's feeling any of this, do you?"

"She hasn't regained her sense of touch yet, Sonic. She's fine," Shahra reassured him, practically panting from the effects of the heat.

Sonic simply nodded and kept running, hating the Erazor with such a passion. It was an odd thing for him, for very rarely did Sonic ever hate anything or anyone. He didn't even hate Eggman, and he and Robotnik had been going round and round for nearly 10 years!

He focused on the path ahead of him, picking up speed as the path became wider. Along the way he encountered fire djinns and larger, iron djinns. His enemies grew more numerous the farther he trekked, and soon they began to block his pathway in large packs. Since he really didn't have time to deal with so many enemies at once, he began searching his surroundings for something that might be useful to him. His eyes came to rest on a large barrel with a "Warning: Explosive" label on it. He grinned and shouted out, "That's perfect!"

He rubbed the ring on his finger. "Hey Shahra, I need some assistance here!"

"O master, what is thy wish?" She appeared in a cloud of smoke, sweat dotting her forehead.

"I need you to protect us all for just a little bit. Ya see, I plan to hit that barrel towards those guys over there—" he pointed towards the djinns "—and I don't wanna risk getting hit by my own idea and hurting myself, you, or Aly."

"Of course, Master, I can protect us from the recoil explosion." She waved her hand and a transparent, sparkling barrier formed around them. "Once you hit that barrel, jump back into the barrier and you'll be fine. But you'll have to be quick!"

Sonic laughed. "Shahra, don't you know by now that 'speed' is my middle name? Thanks!" With that, he preformed a spin dash on the barrel, sending it flying to the pack of fire djinns. In the same fluid motion, he somersaulted back inside the barrier Shahra had created, just in time for that barrel to explode upon impact with the dark creatures.

"Ha, no sweat!" Sonic said and took off again after the explosion had settled. Shahra followed easily close behind, creating barriers again and again when Sonic needed them. She began to grow weary after a while as they moved even deeper into the foundry, the heat taking its toll on her.

Sonic took note of her condition and turned to her. "You know, you can take a rest now, Shahra. I can take care of the rest of these djinns. You deserve a rest!"

Caught off guard by his kindness once again, Shahra merely nodded and disappeared inside the ring, taking Aly with her as she always had before.

Ahead of Sonic, the course changed. Now, in front of him was something you'd expect to see in a car junkyard meant to smash up cars into scrap metal. Below the narrow path was an enormous pool of lava, which was probably the source of all the heat throughout the foundry. He began to judge the timing of each gigantic hammer, then took off down the path. He dashed straight through the first two, but at the third he stopped, and it came crashing down not 3 feet from his nose. The impact almost pushed him back, but he forced himself to stay in one place, and once it began to rise again, he dashed underneath it.

Finally he reached the other side, and Sonic noticed that he was in the core of the foundry. He skidded to a halt outside a large, central room. The Erazor Djinn was standing with his back to the hedgehog, facing a large pool of lava.

"What's he doing here?" Sonic spat angrily, holding himself back from attacking the Erazor full out.

"He's calling more spirits!" Shahra whispered worriedly, reappearing from the ring.

"You gotta be kidding me…" Sonic mumbled.

"_Ifalas zaras I e zaraq…Ifalas zaras I e zaraq_…Come forth from the fiery depths of Jahannam, ye condemned by Iblis! Iz Afrit!" The Erazor chanted, casting a dark spell. A large fiery robot appeared from the lava.

"Whoa! What's that thing?" Sonic asked, taking a step back.

"It's a djinn that controls fire…it's called an Ifrit!" Shahra explained.

The Erazor turned to face Sonic and Shahra. He laughed evilly. "I have already carved up half of the pages that make up this world," He boasted.

"Then why do you need to call forth a creature like that?" Shahra demanded.

"I've decided to let the Ifrit burn whatever pages remain in the book. You, blue **rat**! Have you gathered the seven rings yet? Or are you too busy trying to piece your little mouse friend back together?"

"She isn't a mouse, and I'm not a rat! We're hedgehogs. **HEDGE. HOGS.**" Sonic yelled in frustration.

"Hm. All you filthy vermin are worthless just the same…at any rate, you'd better hurry it up!" Erazor nodded towards Sonic's flame. Sonic watched in horror as it burned down to half its original size.

"Dang!"

"With only half the flame left, only half of your life force remains," the Erazor warned as he disappeared.

"Wait!" Sonic tried to run after him. "Bring Aly back to me!" He yelled. The Ifrit moved to block his path, roaring viciously. "Hey you, get out of the way!" He growled, trying to home attack the creature. "What the…that didn't work?"

"It's no use, Sonic!" Shahra exclaimed. "Your life is tied to the flame, you cannot fight fire with fire!"

"Oh yeah? Just watch me! Oh, this does **not** look good! Shahra, lend me your power! **Time break!**" Sonic yelled without thinking, calling upon a power he had no clue that he possessed in order to slow time. Everything around them turned grey, and he ran from the Ifrit as it tried to grab him in slowed-time, taunting it as he soared by. "Sorry, but we've got to run! Don't worry—I'm sure we'll get the chance to play again real soon!"

* * *

Woohoo Chapter 7! Since the game is based around the number "7" (cause of the World Rings), I figured that this chappie should be special! So, here's to Will, the totally awesome, caring, sweet, boy that every girl wants! So, some people are asking, do I know a boy like Will? I'm afraid I can't say that I do! (Well, I did base him off of a boy who I had a crush on once, but he's not sweet and caring like Will is.) I'd love to, though. What a sweetie :) Anyways, I figured that I'd been following around Sonic and Aly a bit too much, so I gave Shahra a bit of the spotlight, although she had to share it with Will. Okay, anyone else notice how the last paragraph just seems...off? I took the words straight from the original script but to me it just doesn't flow together well...*shrugs* might just be me. Anyways, read on, shall we?

*~Soul Pieces signin' out!~*


	10. Sinbad of the Seven Seas

**Chapter 8—Sinbad, Adventurer of Adventurers**

Sonic and Shahra met up with Ali Baba back in the Sand Oasis. Sonic hurriedly told of their adventure to the core of the Evil Foundry, hoping for some advice. "…then we escaped back here," he finished.

"Hmmm. Well, let's see…my friend Sinbad might be able to share some of his worldly knowledge with you, and since he travels so much, he may have seen pieces of your friend's soul," Ali Baba offered.

"So, where is he?" Sonic asked impatiently.

"Well, according to rumor, he was fighting some pirates when he was taken away by the Rukh."

"The Rukh…?" He repeated tentatively.

"It's a giant bird. Well, not exactly a bird. It's more like a living fossil."

"Is that right? Well, where is this, er…bird thing?"

"I think the Rukh flocks someplace out in the skies to the west," Tails gestured in that direction.

"The skies, huh?" Sonic confirmed thoughtfully. "Okay, anything to get Aly back to normal. Thanks, buddy! Hey, Shahra!" He rubbed the ring.

"O Master, what is thy wish?" She asked respectfully.

"We need that magic carpet! We've got ourselves a Rukh to track down!" He said. Shahra made the carpet appear, and Sonic jumped on, holding Aly's body close to him. He recalled the beginning of this adventure, when he rode the carpet with her and actually had a normal conversation with her. Well, if you call inviting her to live in his world instead of this book "normal." "Let's get moving!"

* * *

Aly could hear everything going on around her clearly, but she still felt as though this were all just…fake. Her memories had a strange haze around them, and she couldn't remember at all what Sonic looked like. _Come on, brain! How hard can it be? Why are you being like this? He's just one color, and I know it's one of the basic colors, I just can't see him! Why? What's wrong with me?_ She wondered. She remembered what she looked like, what Shahra looked like, and everyone else. She knew Sonic was a hedgehog, but that was all! She couldn't remember if he was tall, short, cute, weird; nothing! She wondered why she felt no emotions. She didn't feel happy or sad or angry; she just felt nothing. Except…there was something, a tiny spark, when she heard Sonic talked to her the first time. But she didn't know what it was.

Come to think of it, she didn't know what anything was.

All around her was darkness, she couldn't speak; couldn't move. She wasn't even sure she still had a body. She sometimes heard the wind whistle through her ears, and she knew Sonic was running with her. He told her that she wasn't going to feel anything at all, and that she couldn't do anything except for breath, think, and hear. She knew why it was happening…but it still did not make sense to her.

She again tried to recall the hedgehog who loved her. But…it was like he just wasn't there. Like…as though he'd been blanked out of all her memories.

She wondered if it was the work of the Erazor Djinn. It wouldn't surprise her.

At the thought of the name, she knew she should be mad. But yet again, she felt nothing, in the place of an emotion.

Sonic told her he was going to collect her sense of touch next, he hoped. But honestly, she wanted back her sense of sight, so that she could have her emotions back. But, of course, she had no way of telling him that.

She just wanted to be back to normal. _I suppose I should be mad or sad right now,_ she thought. _But I just can't feel anything._ She mentally sighed. _Heck, I don't even feel __**bored.**__ And I should be, stuck in a place like this._

"We're riding on that carpet again," she heard Sonic whisper to her. Had she had her ability to move, she would have pricked her ears to catch his voice easier, but of course, she didn't have that ability anymore. "Remember the first time we rode it? It was the first time you and I ever had any kind of real conversation." He chuckled. "Still wanna come back with me to my world? I wouldn't blame you if you didn't want to, though. Every time I do something, you always seem to get hurt." He sighed. "And I'm sorry about that."

_Of course I want to go back with you, Sonikku,_ she thought. _And I will, when this is all over._

* * *

"Whew! These things sure are weird lookin'! Doesn't resemble a bird at all!" Sonic exclaimed as they neared the Rukh flock. They looked somewhat like Manta Rays, only they had entire cities on their backs, and they flew slowly through the air.

"Be careful, Sonic," Shahra warned. "Once you get on one, it'll be hard, moving against the wind, if you're not already in motion," she said.

"Eh, no worries!" He waved her off. "I'll be fine. Let's go find this Sinbad!" He jumped off the carpet and onto the back of one of the Rukh. His footing was unstable as he landed, and he wobbled back and forth for a bit before steadying himself. "Whoa, Shahra, you were right, the wind is harsh up here! Better get movin'!" He said, dashing off. The sound of sobbing stopped him.

"Shahra? Not to be rude, but please tell me that's not you crying!" Hope filled him as he thought of the possibility of another soul piece being here.

"Not me," Shahra said. "But look, she's over there!" She gestured towards a nearby gargoyle statue. One of Aly's soul pieces was standing on top, crying into her hands.

"Yes! I wonder which one this is." He said.

"This one is her sense of sight. It'll give her back her emotions, too," Shahra said after analyzing the spirit for a little while.

"Well, not really the one I was looking for, but it's still one more piece! Hey, um, Aly's soul? Wanna come back to your body already? I bet it's pretty terrible to be floating around alone up here, being tossed by the wind and such."

The spirit looked up at him, tears streaming down her face. Sonic literally took a step back. He hated to see Aly cry, and despite the fact that he knew this was the only emotion it could show, he was still struck by how upset she was. "Hey, no reason to cry! Your body's right here, can't you just return to her?"

"N-no, I caaann'tt," she wailed. "You h-have to b-beat me in a raaaccee!" Everything she said ended in her crying out, as though she were in hysterics. "A-and I can't let you win, either! Because then I'd b-be shattered for-forever! But I want to return to youuu! I mi-miss you, Sonic!"

"Hey, hey, I miss you too, alright? And I'll beat you in a race. I've already collected two other soul pieces. May I ask you a question first?"

She sniffed. "What is it?"

"Should you beat me, what would happen, if anything?" He asked nervously.

"We-well…I'd disappear for a while, then eventually come back someplace else. An-and it keeps up until you finally be-beat meee!" She began wailing again.

Sonic flattened his ears, half in irritation, and half in sadness for her. He hated seeing her so upset, even though he knew this wasn't really her. He imagined how he'd react if she ever got **this** upset with her soul complete. He shivered somewhat. He'd hate to see it happen. _I'll just keep it from ever happening,_ he thought. "Alright then, that makes me feel a bit better about losing to you. Let's race! From here to the top of the tower on that Rukh!" He pointed to a Rukh somewhat northeast of them.

She nodded sadly, suddenly not crying anymore. "Okay…" she mumbled, as though she were too depressed to even move. He wondered if this was going to affect her speed at all.

_Of course it won't, this is all just to throw me off, _he thought to himself. "Alright. Ready, set, GO!" He called out, taking off just before she did. He ran fast against the wind as it tried to pull him back. He felt like someone was dragging behind him, holding fast to his quills. He noticed that Aly wasn't exactly moving very fast either. _So, the wind affects her, too?_ _Makes it a little bit more fair!_ He thought happily. Suddenly, the wind stopped tugging, and he moved much faster. He darted around the many Gargoyle statues while Aly used each one as a springboard to push herself ahead. He noticed something a bit different about the way she jumped, however. She stopped to charge her jumps, something she never really had to do. He caught her eye for just a moment, and he felt as though she were talking to him telepathically. _Yes, we all want to return to our body. Isn't it obvious? We'll all try to let you win as much as we can under the radar, but we can't give much. Hurry, because I'm about to run out of a reason as to why I can't go very fast!_

Sonic nodded, and picked up speed again. He reached a zip line connecting the two Rukh and used it to swiftly jump across. He looked behind him and noticed she'd slowed down, just a bit, since the zip line wasn't as fast as running. Suddenly, a strong burst of wind hit them both, and Sonic was almost thrown off, and he watched as the spirit acted as though it'd caught her off guard too. She picked up speed, quickly though, and he jumped off the zip line a bit early, in an attempt to go faster. His feet hit the ground steadily, and he took off into the tower. He used the various springs and ropes to navigate to the top, doing his best to avoid numerous spikes and spiked balls along the way. "Whew!" He exclaimed. "They just keep getting tougher!" Finally, he launched himself to the top of the tower, just before the third soul piece exploded out after him.

"You be-beat me…you didn't eve-even go easy on me!" She was back to sobbing as she formed into a ball of light, similar to the rest.

"Ya know, I recall you asking me to do that, at one time. Bet you're glad I didn't listen, huh?" He smiled. Shahra appeared beside him, carrying Aly's body.

"You di-didn't listen to meee!" She cried. To anyone else, it would seem that she was scolding him. But he heard the whispered "Thank you" as the ball of light entered back into her body, and Aly received her third soul piece.

Her eyes fluttered open and darted to look at him. He knew she still couldn't move or talk, but everything that needed to be said was in her eyes. He walked up to her and pulled her close. "You can hear and see now. I don't have to explain everything to you anymore, do I?"

She merely blinked twice in response. He laughed. "Here's a deal, when I ask you a 'yes' or 'no' question, blink once for 'yes' and twice for 'no', alright?"

He saw light dance in her eyes and knew that meant she was laughing on the inside, and she blinked once. He grinned and said, "I missed your dang eyes, ya know that?" Gently, he handed her back to Shahra. "Ya know, I'm starting to think these pieces are trying to be as helpful as they can! After all, everywhere that we've had to go to in order to continue our mission, there's been a soul piece. They want to be together again. Poor Aly…" he reached out and stroked one of her quills. "You'll be back together soon. Only two more to go!" He turned to Shahra. "We gotta go find Sinbad now. So, let's go!" He took off across the backs of the Rukh, either jumping from one to another or using zip lines to reach far-off Rukh.

He finally found the tower where Sinbad was imprisoned. Sonic had climbed all the way to the top and was now attempting to hold back his laughter as he recognized the red echidna before him, trapped in what seemed to be a large birdcage. He was wearing a turban, as were most of the males in the _Arabian Nights_. He also wore a loose vest and baggy pants, both of which were shades of cream. "Hey, Knuckles! How'd you get here?" He asked between snickers.

"I am Sinbad of the Seven Seas! Adventurer of Adventurers! Uh…who the heck are you?" He added, confused.

"Oh, Sinbad, it truly is you, the great adventurer? Would you be willing to give us some of your worldly wisdom, or maybe help us find this girl's soul pieces?" Shahra cut in before Sonic could continue mistaking this man for someone else. She floated eagerly towards the bars of his cage, her hands clasped in front of her as though in prayer, light dancing in her eyes as she beheld such a great adventurer.

"Hey, er Miss…uh…" Sinbad trailed off.

"Shahra."

"Shahra. Listen, I hate to break it to you, but I'm kind of stuck, here. **You're **the ones who should be helping me!" He exclaimed with a bit of a Holier-Than-Thou attitude.

"I feel a strong magical force here," Shahra said, gingerly touching the lock on his cage. "It must be the work of the Erazor Djinn, which means if we can break the spell we can undo this lock!"

"Now you're talking, that's the ticket, Shahra!" Sinbad grinned, and Shahra blushed at his praise.

"Come on, Shahra, let's just leave him there. We've got more important things to mess with," he said, tilting his head towards Aly, who was once again in his arms.

"Hey, listen, hedgehog!" Sinbad began.

"Finally, someone gets it right!" Sonic mumbled under his breath.

"Life's a game of give and take, see?" He continued, ignoring Sonic's less-than-subtle remark. "You help me get out of here…and in return, I'll help you out later. Not a bad deal, huh?"

"Wisdom…Knuckles?" Sonic said snidely. "Doesn't seem likely, if you know what he's like back in my world," he whispered in Aly's ear, loud enough for Sinbad to hear, again. Her eyes lit up as though she was laughing.

"What?" Sinbad exclaimed. "What'd you say?"

"Ah, never mind. Come on, let's find that key!" Sonic said to Shahra, handing Aly back over to her. "This shouldn't take to long."

* * *

Ah, by far one of my more favorite parts in the game! Hahaha "Wisdom...Knuckles?" xD Sonikku you're so mean! Anyways, I have to admit I had a bit of trouble with this one...it's hard to mess with a game in order to insert myself into the script! But, I'm pretty please with the way it turned out. I decided again that Sonic had too much spotlight and decided to tell a little bit about what's going on with Aly as she lays there, immobile and unfeeling, with nothing but the ability to think and hear. I must say, it kinda sucks! I also decided I should give a bit of info because the next interlude won't be until after chapter 10 or 11...and it'll explain what was happening to Aly before Sonic restored life to her. Anyways, reviews, criticisms, and proof-reading is always welcome! And I have a question...how do I get 150 views, and no reviews? Bleh, I guess I'm just not review-worthy...*sadface*. Oh well, I'm just shocked I got 150 views xD Now, onward to the next chapter!

*~Soul Pieces signin' out!~*


	11. Worldly Wisdom

**Chapter 9—"Worldly Wisdom"**

"It seems that if you're able to turn those four mirrors this way, you'll be able to break the lock," Sinbad told Sonic, pointing towards four different towers surrounding the main tower that each had a gigantic mirror on top. "And that bit of wisdom is free of charge!" He added with a chuckle.

Sonic just rolled his eyes and took off, leaving Shahra to stay by Aly and Sinbad. He took the first zip line he reached, which carried him to the southern tower. "Alright, so I just head on over here, fight a few evil spirits, and turn the mirror. No problem!" He shouted into the wind. He was so happy, he could burst. He was getting farther along in their mission **and** he was getting Aly back. There was no way he was going to fail either of his missions!

He dismounted the zip line and did a homing attack on three nearby genies as he reached one of the other Rukh who had the first tower on it. "Hehehe, not today, buddies!" He shouted as he dashed through each genie. "You're not gonna slow me down!"

He came to a skidding stop. "Well…maybe **you** will…" he said, astonished as the Gargoyle before him came alive. The stone creature beat its wings (which really shouldn't have been enough to keep him afloat, since he was entirely stone, but hey, this was a story book, the laws of physics didn't apply here!)

"Sonic! Avoid looking into its eyes! It'll turn you to stone!" Shahra warned him through her connection with the ring, even though she was still on the other tower.

"Ya know, I believe I read about that somewhere!" He replied, unsure as to whether or not Shahra could hear him, as he began kicking and punching at the Gargoyle. He kept his eyes diverted from the bright green eyes of his opponent as he attacked. "Heh, take that, you piece of rock!" He exclaimed as it fell to the ground, shattering in defeat. "Now, onto the top of this tower!" He continued on his way, grinning to himself. _Yes, yes, yes! I'm getting her back! Nothing's gonna stop me!_ He couldn't help but think. _Man, I really __**am**__ head over heels for her. But I don't care!_

This tower, much like the other one, had spikes and other such things to avoid, which Sonic did not even slow down for. He was doing what he liked best, and he was dead set on his goal. Not even Chaos could stop him.

_Eh, scratch that, _he corrected himself. _But, other than Chaos, nothing could stop me!_ He laughed out loud suddenly as he reached the top of the tower.

"Yes! One down, three to go!" He said, flicking a nearby switch, causing the giant mirror in front of him to move. It aimed the sunlight at Sinbad's cage, and suddenly Sonic was back in front of the cage, one of the four latches on the lock now gone. "Whoa, hey, why am I back here?" He asked Shahra. She simply shrugged.

"I guessed that it would be easier for you to reach all four switches, since their towers surround this one, so I took the liberty of transporting you back here," she explained.

"Eh, whatever works!" He said, taking off again, this time passing the first zip line and instead hitching a ride on the second, taking him off to the west. Just like the last one, this zip line took him to a Rukh with djinns and gargoyles littered here and there along the large fossil's back.

At the sight the second gargoyle, Sonic averted his gaze and began dashing round and round it. "Another one? Wow, you guys sure are eager for a fight!" Sonic taunted the spirit while using a homing attack on it. Two more hits, and the creature fell to the ground in defeat. "Too easy!" Sonic exclaimed as he entered into the tower. Front-flipping up to the next level of the tower, Sonic stopped and noticed a long gap in between his level and the next, with only a few feeble ropes in front of him.

He surveyed them closely. _Well, I'm no Aly, but maybe they can support my weight,_ he guessed, backing up to get a running start. Leaping, he caught the first rope just barely with one hand, and quickly gripped it with his other as he began to slide down. Once he got a better hold of the rope, he began to swing back and forth, trying to get closer to the ropes ahead of him. Suddenly, he had an idea. _Of course!_ He thought to himself. _I'll just use a homing attack to get from one rope to another!_ Carrying out his plan he soon reached the higher level and took off as soon as he hit the ground, avoiding more spikeballs and ground spikes as he progressed levels.

He finally reached the top of the tower and flicked the second switch, moving the second mirror towards Sinbad's cage and shattering the second lock. He was teleported back and greeted Shahra, Aly, and Sinbad with a wave.

"Half way done! Whew, this isn't taking any time at all!" Sonic grinned at his progress.

"I wouldn't be so sure about that, Hedgehog. There's always some kind of trick that comes up as means to slow you down, it's just how things go around here," Sinbad warned. "I wouldn't get too cocky."

"Me? _Cocky?_" Sonic innocently pointed to himself, then laughed. "Of course not!" Taking off again, this time off to the eastern tower, he stopped where the third zip line should have been, but wasn't. While he was debating what he should do, a gargoyle shot out ahead of him, leaving behind a path that was purple. Sonic took the chance and jumped onto the path, relieved to find out that it was solid.

_What would you have done had you fallen through?_ He could just hear Aly's voice echo throughout his head, and he began laughing. _Oh, Aly, you would have been so mad if you had just seen me…oh wait, you did!_ He grinned to himself as he imagined what she was thinking as he ran right behind the gargoyle, who seemed to be headed towards the third tower, conveniently. The gargoyle began to pick up speed, and Sonic decided it was time to test out his new ability, even though Shahra wasn't that close by. He rubbed the ring and called out to her.

"Shahra, if you can hear me, I could use your help! **Speed break!**" He grinned as he felt himself move faster than he could ever have run normally. He almost immediately broke the sound barrier, thanks to one of the new abilities Shahra's magic gave him, and he tried to control himself from running into the gargoyle. After all, what would he do if he lost his path because he killed the one making it?

The creature took a sudden left, now flying alongside a Rukh. As he finally slowed back down, Sonic noticed the third tower so close by, and knew he'd have to jump in order to reach it.

"Thanks for the lift, but I gotta run now!" He called out to the spirit, then jumped off to the tower, just barely landing on the edge of the highest level. _Whoa, close one!_ He thought as he regained his balance. He trotted over to the third switch and turned it, and the result was the same as the other two.

Back in front of Sinbad's cage for the final time, he could see Aly giving him a glare.

"What'd I do?" He asked the blonde hedgehog. Her stare just seemed to say, _You know what you did, you idiot!_ He grinned cockily at her. "Yeah, yeah, I know, 'what would I have done had I fallen through?' Ya know, I seem to sense a bit of Déjà vu here!" He watched as her expression slowly changed from mad to happy again, her eyes lighting up to resemble laughter.

"Um, hello? Greatest adventurer ever trapped in a cage here! Have you forgotten?" Sinbad interrupted their short trip down memory lane.

"Hey, hey, have some patience!" The blue speedster replied. "I'm gettin' on it!" He took off, this time coming upon a zip line with spiked balls around it, all the way down. "Oh…this must be what Sinbad meant…" he mumbled to himself. _I can't let myself be hit by those spiked balls! I just hope I can swing clear of them,_ he thought as he jumped onto the zip line. Sure enough, this required him to swing side to side, in an effort to avoid being hit. Although he would never admit it, this was one of the few times that Sonic the Hedgehog was actually a bit nervous. He was relieved to land on the final Rukh and have his feet on (somewhat) stable ground.

He took a split second to recover, and then took off towards the final tower, happy to finally be almost done with his tedious task. _Like I said to Shahra, we should just leave him there! I mean, how great can his "wisdom" be, anyways? He _is_ Knuckles, after all,_ Sonic laughed to himself. _Or at least, his counterpart in this story_.

Scaling the final tower proved to be no more of a challenge than the other three towers, mind the sand falls that tried to knock him off of narrow ledges. In nearly no time at all Sonic was finally at the top of the last tower. Breathing a sigh of relief that all was over, he flipped the final switch, and the mirror creaked in response to its sudden movement, and Sonic was back in front of the now unlocked cage.

"Whew!" Sinbad exclaimed in relief, happy to be free of his bondage. "Okay, so about the fire genie, then…why not just try splashing some water on him?"

_I KNEW IT! _Sonic burst out laughing and replied sarcastically, "WOW! The wisdom of Sinbad of the Seven Seas! Adventurer of Adventurers! You hearin' this, Aly?" He asked, turning to face her. She blinked once, her eyes glowing as though she were laughing on the inside.

"Hey, I don't see you coming up with any better ideas!" Sinbad challenged the blue hedgehog, growling. Both striking fighting poses, they began to head butt each other, as was common between two testosterone-filled big-shots, no matter what species.

"Stop it!" Ali Baba appeared (from where, who knows?), trying to push his way between the two older males in order to prevent them from fighting. _Hmm, I believe this has happened before, back in my world! _Sonic thought humorously of the times that the real Knuckles and he always got into fights (normally started by Sonic himself), and how Tails was always stuck being the one to break them up. "The problem is, how are we going to get ENOUGH water to put out a fire genie, right?"

"Hmph. I was **getting** to that…" Knuckles replied indignantly, crossing his arms and sticking his nose into the air.

Sonic let out an annoyed grunt in response, turning back to face Aly, whose eyes were still bright, as though this entire thing was like a big comedy act. "Yeah, I'll bet that from your point of things, this is pretty dang funny," he whispered to her good-naturedly. She blinked once in reply. He shot her a look of mock irritation, and then couldn't help but grin as she closed her eyes to show smugness.

"You see, the pirates who locked me up here took the Water Blue Ring I use to control storms."

"A water blue…"

"Ring," Shahra completed Ali Baba's thought.

"First a fire genie and now pirates, huh? The Arabian Nights really are worlds of endless adventures, aren't they?" Sonic noted. "So, oh great and wise Sinbad—" he stopped to snicker "—where are these infamous pirates?"

"Why should I tell you, when all you do is mock me?" Sinbad replied heatedly. Sonic simply shrugged in return, further angering the red Echidna.

"Please, Sinbad, we really are in a bit of a hurry," Shahra pleaded.

"Alright, I'll tell you. But only for the lovely lady," he added, bringing Shahra to blush again. "They make their hideout in the sea to the south. It shouldn't be too hard to find, since the Water Blue Ring allows them to control storms, and no doubt they've got a horrible one brewing up. Be careful," he warned them. "Especially since you've got the golden hedgehog with you. They tend to like golden things. And females. And they don't tend to treat either one very nicely or with much respect," he said gravely.

Aly's eyes portrayed fear. Sonic shuddered visibly as he thought of her past. He knelt down beside her. "Hey, Aly, you don't really have to come with us. I'm certain that Sinbad would look after you for us, after kindly warning us about the pirates," he glanced up at Sinbad, expecting him to protest, but instead the Echidna nodded. "It might be safer for you."

She blinked twice, her eyes revealing courage, but Sonic could still see her fear. "Well…it's your choice. I won't make you do anything, Aly. But if you change your mind, it's okay," he added. He picked her up and looked over at Shahra. "Looks like she's all ready for adventures, which is just fine with me!" He smiled as Shahra made the magic carpet reappear.

"Do you two also need a ride back down?" Shahra asked Ali Baba and Sinbad. Both shook their heads.

"Thank you for the offer, Ms. Shahra, but the Rukh eventually land north of here, and we plan to get off then," Sinbad replied, bowing respectfully. Ali Baba followed suit.

Shahra bowed back. "Then away we go, Sonic! Off to the southern seas!" And with that, the two hedgehogs and the genie took off in the southern direction, ready for the next leg of their adventure.

* * *

Woohoo, alright! Finally got this next chapter up! I had a bit of writer's block there for a few days, but I finally decided that what this chapter really needed was some more detail and an ending! Okay so y'all know I follow the game script tightly, right? Well am I the only one who noticed that Ali Baba RANDOMLY APPEARED ON THE RUKH? Or did I miss something? Because last time I checked, he was still in the Desert Oasis. Oh well, I suppose that he flew up there, using his tails. Aww, he's so kawaii! *fangirls for a sec, then regains composure.* Alrighty, sorry about that! Anyways, the next chapter should be up sometime around next week. Happy New Year's! Oh yeah, and thank you to that anonymous person who left me the review! Although I am told I have a few spelling mistakes (as I knew I did). So, I think I'll start proofreading to see if I can't find any of them. Oh yes, and special thanks also goes out to **ShadowAshura6**!

*~SoulPieces signin' out!~*


	12. Race in the Rain

**HAPPY NEW YEARS, READERS! WELCOME TO THE NEXT DECADE! ;D**

**Chapter 10—Race (Among Other Things) in the Rain**

Shahra and Sonic, who was carrying Aly, ran south for nearly an hour after they had landed back on the ground before _finally_ reaching the southern seas. The closer that the trio got to the sea, the rougher the weather got. Soon Sonic was running through harsh rain, trying to see through to the edge of the sea. Large drops weighed him down, soaking him to the bone, and he hated every moment of it. He hated the water with a passion and hated even touching it. He envied Aly, who couldn't feel a darn drop of this horrible weather. Curled up in his arms, she was surveying the area, trying to see if she couldn't see any landmarks that would help them leave this place. Sadly enough, the rain was falling too hard for her to see anything.

Finally, Sonic had enough. "Shahra, I'm sorry, but I can't run in this any longer! We'll find some shelter and run through it tomorrow, but right now I'm sick of the rain!" He took off towards a cliff face, barely visible in the deluge. He ran alongside it until he found a deep indention and decided to stay the night there.

Inside, the roof was a pretty decent distance above their heads, and the floor was soft with sand. Gently laying Aly down, Sonic gave himself a good shake to relieve his fur of as much of the moisture as he could. He then sat down beside Aly and noticed that her ponytail was messy.

"Do you mind if I fix your ponytail?" Sonic asked her. She blinked twice in response, and he sat down behind her and began to carefully undo the mess. Her quills were everywhere and matted in some places. Gently he ran his fingers through her quills, trying to get the worst of it out. Finally satisfied that he'd done the best he could, Sonic began to gather her quills back into the pony tail, and then decided that instead of a low ponytail, he'd give her a higher ponytail so that she didn't have to worry about sitting down on her quills as much. He put her hair-tie into his mouth and tried to move the ponytail up higher.

Finally fixing it just as he imagined, Sonic picked out some of her shorter quills in order to mimic her original look. He took the hair-tie back out of his mouth and tied her hair back up, twisting the tie three times, just as she'd had it. When he was finished, he was pleased with his work, considering it was the first time he'd ever tried to fix a girl's hair. He thought about wrapping his arms around her from behind, but then guessed that she wouldn't have noticed anyways, since she couldn't feel, and instead sat back down beside her. He smiled at her and said, "You know, I think I actually did a good job! Do you want me to show you?"

She blinked once in response.

"Shahra, do you think you can get me a mirror?" Sonic rubbed the ring.

"Of course, O Master. Thy wish is my command." Waving her hand ceremoniously, she made a mirror from the water droplets around them.

"Again with the 'Master' thing…" Sonic muttered inaudibly, taking the mirror from her. He held it in front of Aly. "Is it good?"

Her eyes lit up when she saw her hair. She blinked once, and Sonic gave her a big hug, the mirror turning to mere droplets once more, the noise of the droplets hitting the floor was drowned out by the downpour outside.

"Are you tired yet?" He asked her, yawning.

She blinked twice, her eyes once again lighting up as though she was laughing.

"I swear, I need to find your sense of touch next, so that way you'll also be running, and we'll see just how tired you are then!" He joked.

"Actually, Sonic, if you're not too tired of the rain just yet, I can detect that exact spirit wandering around right now," Shahra told him. "I can guide you to her, if you want."

"Are you kidding me?" Sonic immediately jumped up. "Of course I wanna go track it down! Well, Mrs. I'm-not-tired-yet," he started, turning to the golden hedgehog. "Looks like soon you'll be able to move, and feel the effects of all that rain. And then we'll see who's tired!"

Her eyes showed laughter and a bit of mock rage at him. He laughed and picked her up. "Alright, Shahra, where is this next human Aly spirit uh…thing?"

"Just follow me, Sonic," Shahra formed a small pink ball of light and floated back out of the cave, and Sonic obeyed. He could see her easily through the downpour, and wondered what kind of emotion this next spirit would portray.

The rain began to let up just enough that he could see about a half mile ahead of him now, and Shahra began to move faster, heading back the way they came. They then veered off to the right into a dark forest. Suddenly, she stopped, and Sonic had a hard time skidding to a stop in the sopping wet grass. He wound up slipping and falling forwards onto the ground, trying hard not to twist around and land on Aly.

"Oof! Dang rain! I hate water!" He exclaimed angrily as he fell to the ground. "So she's around here somewhere?"

"Yes. This one is afraid of everything. You might have a hard time coaxing her out."

"Let me handle this, Shahra!" The blue hedgehog set Aly up against a nearby tree trunk and began to search for her next spirit. "Hey, c'mon, Aly! You know I hate water! Please can we just race and make this fast?" He called out to her. He heard her scream nearby and he turned in the direction, ready to call out to her, when suddenly he was tackled to the ground. He looked up to see that it was her spirit who crashed into him. She was trembling.

"Th-th-there was th-this stupid sn-snake over there!" She squirmed, pointing in the direction she'd come from. "I was s-so scared! And now I've run into you….you won't hurt me, will you?" She tried to back up, still on all fours, her clumsy human hands and feet slipping on the grass.

"Hey, of course not, Aly. It's me, Sonic!"

"Oh…Sonic…you're so drenched I didn't recognize you! Your spikes are so packed with water that they're practically laying down, and you're a darker blue. Here in these woods you looked black!" She took a deep breath. "I'm so scared, I hate this place! Look at me, I'm a human! Like I belong out here! There are so many animals…I can't protect myself like this! I'm only a part of someone!" She trembled, her eyes darting everywhere, as though she expected an entire clan of Ninjas to come out of the trees and kill her.

"Hey, it's fine, okay? We'll just race, and then you can return to your norm—er, your hedgehog body!" Sonic stood up and put a reassuring hand on her shoulder. She nodded and stood up herself, now towering over Sonic. Having never been so close to one of the spirits, Sonic took a step back. "Wow, you're so much taller as a human!"

"That doesn't stop th-the creatures from attacking m-me," she trembled. She raised her left hand and stretched it out in front of them, calling forth a rainbow-tinted glass road. "This is our racetrack," she explained, still nervously looking around. "It's made of really thick glass but…my luck it'll fall through on me…I'm so scared," she added softly, looking towards the track with fear. "Erazor's magic makes us all race you…you know that by now, don't you?" She asked. Sonic nodded.

"But that's okay, because I'm getting you back still, and I get to run , like I always enjoyed doing!" He reassured her. "And you won't fall through the glass. For one, I won't let you. And for another, you'll probably be jumping from tree to tree, knowing your racing style."

She trembled. "But…what if the bark on the tree is too slippery? What if I miss and run into another tree and hurt myself?" Her voices was shaking, like the rest of her.

"Look, let's not worry about this stuff, okay? Let's just get on with this race so that way I can get back to the cave and dry off!" He stopped her. They both lined up at the edge of the glass track. "Have you forgotten that I'm aquaphobic?" He chuckled.

_Sonic…glass is extremely slippery in rain. You must be careful!_ The spirit's voice echoed throughout his head. He nodded, and she counted them off.

"Three…t—" she cut off suddenly in a scream as thunder cracked above them. She trembled, and then tried again, but counted faster this time.

"Three, two, one, let's go!" She shouted quickly, panic filling her voice. Sonic took off up the glass road that led them into a higher part of the trees. As soon as the road was level again, he began to skim across the glass, taking advantage of the low friction. As they progressed further he noticed Aly was having some problems with the slippery road and wasn't able to get a good jump going to get her up into the trees. She also shied at every low-hanging branch and vine, sometimes yelping if she believed it to actually be attacking her. He couldn't tell if she was doing all of it on purpose or if she was actually having this much trouble. He focused on the road ahead of him, which was now beginning to curve dangerously like a snake. Carefully without losing speed, he attempted to navigate the curves, leaning at one point a little bit too far to the right. He felt himself begin to get dangerously close to edge and tried to get back into the middle. The road suddenly slanted downwards to the right, though, and Sonic was unable to get any further away from the edge. Up ahead a few hundred meters was a large shuttle loop after a somewhat-steep declining hill. Just before that the track straightened up. He stopped trying to lean the opposite way and let the road carry him back to the middle as he shot down the slope.

He could still hear Aly trying clumsily to get up into the trees, gasping each time that so much as a bug flew in her direction.

_Alright, I love Aly and everything, but I pray that she _never_ gets this skittish. I can't put up with that!_ He thought, irritated. He heard her yelp behind him as she slid down the hill, picking up major speed. Sonic leaned his body forwards in order to gain more speed, whereas he could tell Aly was leaning backwards.

_Now that I know she's doing on purpose,_ he thought. The shuttle loop loomed before him, and he knew he had to have plenty of speed to get through it. Aly was bound to just slide back down. He felt the world turn upside down as he neared the top of the loop, and everything around him re-righted itself as he came back down the other side.

"Nice try, Erazor! But shuttle loops are my specialty!" He called out into the wind.

Up ahead the trees became denser, and the road became thinner and not as wet, thanks to the thick canopy above them. He took off running as soon as he hit a drier spot on the road, another incline up ahead. He pushed himself to pick up more speed, and behind him he could hear Aly still scared of every little thing. He heard her stop sliding and start running and knew she was gaining fast. Soon she'd be jumping from tree to tree, and he knew he'd have a hard time keeping up on this thin of a trail.

_Come on, Sonic, pull it together! Just trust your instincts! _He told himself. Closing his eyes, Sonic opened up his other senses and allowed them to guide him. He began running faster, taking every curve easily now. Behind him he could practically see Aly as she began to regain her grace (although she was still extremely skittish and jumped at everything), and she finally got herself into the trees. Sonic pushed himself to pick up even more speed, carefully navigating the now very tricky path. Up ahead he could hear the rain hitting the road again, and knew he'd have to start sliding again. Thunder cracked above them and he heard Aly scream again and heard a _thump_ as she fell onto the track. He resisted the urge to turn around to see if she was okay and instead focused on transitioning from running to skimming. He slowed down just a bit to be sure not to fall, and then he opened his eyes again as he began to skim across the surface.

He could see now the end of the road, and Aly was swiftly gaining behind her. She still yelped at everything but she wasn't stopping now. Sonic leaned forward in order to gain as much speed as he could on the downhill stretch and managed to cross the finish line with time to spare.

Aly was shaking. "Oh my gosh I've never been so scared in my life!" She said as she came to a stop beside Sonic. "I'd go to my body but I'm terrified to go now, Sonic! Will you please walk beside me on our way back? I'm too far away right now to rejoin my body. And I'm too scared to go alone," she took his gloved hand in her small human one. Sonic was shocked at how small her hands were.

"This is really how you looked like before you became a hedgehog?" He asked her.

She twirled her ponytail nervously. Sonic noticed that is was messy, just as hedgehog Aly's had been earlier. He resisted the urge to ask if he could fix it.

"Yeah," she finally replied. "I never wanna go back…so much…so much…" Aly was unable to finish her statement. She began to shake violently again.

"Yes, I know. It was horrible. Come on, your body is waiting for you," Sonic began walking back to where he'd left Shahra and Aly. As they neared, Aly's spirit began to fade into the small light ball, just like the other 3 pieces. She murmured "Thanks," as she entered into her body again. The moment the newest spirit got closer to the small golden hedgehog, she was lifted into the air and met her newest piece there. She gently floated back down to the ground and laid there, briefly surrounded in sparkling raindrops as she became closer to being whole again. Suddenly her hand balled up into a fist, and she reopened her eyes. She lifted her head to face him, and a big smile spread across her lips. She sat up and reached out to Sonic, who could only seem to stand in shock as he finally saw her move again.

He shook his head clear and ran over to her, picking her up in his arms. She wrapped her arms tightly around him as he held her close to him. Absent-mindedly she ran her hands through his quills, avoiding the record-sharp tips as she combed through them. He pulled away just a little bit and lifted her head up to face him by gently tapping underneath her chin. He smiled at her gently, and she wrapped her hands around his neck. His hands wrapped around her waste, he pulled her closer and bent his head down slowly, watching for her reaction.

Both their hearts were pounding, and Aly knew she couldn't deny it anymore. She really liked Sonic. No, scratch that. She _loved_ him. And she was through denying it.

She stopped him before he could get too close and held up a finger to signal him to _wait._ She took hold of his hand with her left hand and traced a letter into his palm with her right hand. _I._

She looked up at him to see if he understood. He nodded and she drew something else into his hand.

_A heart. Love_. He nodded for her to continue, although he already knew what she'd write next.

_U._ He grinned down at her. She looked proud of herself, and she ran her hands back up his arms, across his shoulders, and back around his neck, still keeping eye contact. He grinned and wrapped his arms back around her waist.

"Am I allowed to kiss you now?" He asked, laughing. Aly just grinned in response, and Sonic took that to mean "okay." He leaned in and kissed her lightly on her lips. He opened his eyes briefly and noticed that hers were still closed, so he leaned in for a longer, more intense kiss. Both hearts were pounding simultaneously.

_My first kiss…in the rain,_ Aly thought. _Perfect._

* * *

*Fangirl scream* I love writing kissing scenes! And also, I think that for sitting here for the past 4 hours trying to get a fast update for all you fans out there I deserve a round of applause! LOL I actually don't mind, it's late at night, it's New Years Day, and personally I just enjoy writing :D And nearly 300 views? I am appalled!

Anyways, I think I mighta had too much Coca Cola earlier...that stuff really makes me hyper. I'm glad so many people are enjoying the book! I'm trying to keep it updated pretty often so that y'all aren't waiting too long for the next chappie. Speaking of which, considering on how fast this update came and how long this chapter is, I think I may take a 2 or 3 day break before I work on the next chapter. I seriously need it! *her hedgie fur is all ruffled as though she's been working too hard*

Special thanks to the anonymous reviewer and **Ksonic **for the reviews, glad that people are enjoying them! Happy New Years, everyone! Don't forget about the most epic wish this month can be made today at 11:11 a.m. on 1/1/11! Haha what I can't wait for is 11/11/11. Epicness :D

*~Soul Pieces signin' out (and hopefully getting some sleep)!~*


	13. Interlude: The Broken Soul

**Interlude 3—The Broken Soul**

_All I wanted was to get away, to stop myself from falling in love. After all, in my past everyone I loved was taken away from me, so why would this be any different? I couldn't stand to think of Sonic dying, but everyone else who was close to me had. I was just trying to protect him._

_Meeting the Erazor around that corner was not in my plans. It was just a straight shot beyond the cave to the pterodactyl's nest, where we could rescue the king. Then we'd go on to wherever we needed to go next._

_When that spirit took hold of me, I felt more scared than I ever had in my life. Him grabbing a hold of me was scarier than any of the men who took advantage of me back in my old world. I struggled briefly, but I knew deep down there was no point. I was against a dark magical being. I was but a simple human-turned-hedgehog with hardly any hand-to-hand combat skills. How I wished for my Glock then. Magical being or not, guns could still hurt the Erazor, just not as badly as they could someone else._

_When Sonic came around the corner, I felt immediately that something was going to go wrong. I just knew it. And sure enough, the next thing I knew, diamond-hard spikes are puncturing my back. It was not a brief pain, although contact was very brief. I know he didn't intend to hurt me but I couldn't help but feel rage towards the blue blur. I cried out in pain, knowing he'd hate the sound of it. Immediately I felt guilty, for I knew he really didn't mean it, but the impact had left me breathless and I couldn't even bring myself to look at him apologetically._

_The next thing I knew, I felt as though my very insides are being pulled through my skin. A quick glance around me showed me what was happening. The Erazor's magic was surrounding me, pulling apart my soul. First goes my sense of smell, and I am no longer breathing. I cry out in fear, wishing it would all end soon._

_Next my sense of hearing goes away, and with it went fear. All I knew by then was that I was in pain. I couldn't tell if I was still yelling or not._

_Next, mercifully, my sense of touch goes. I was unable to move any longer and I couldn't tell if I was even still connected to myself. The pain disintegrated. Following it goes my sense of taste, and I know that I can't yell any more._

_Finally I am pulled into darkness as my eyesight goes. I am drifting now, feeling nothing. No breath leaves my lips, and there is nothing but darkness._

_I am like this for a long time. An hour? A day? I don't know, I've lost all sense of time. Suddenly I am hit with something very, very hot. I suck in my first breath in a long time. I hear maniacal laughter around me, and my blood goes cold. The Erazor is not finished with me._

"_Don't you worry, little girl. You won't be forced to sit around and do nothing while your hero tries to rescue you. Why don't you take a visit back to your world? The world of the people you abandoned, the world that so looked forward to their saving grace. The world that now hungers for your blood. Have fun, my dear…" His snarl fades. I begin to struggle._

"_No! No you can't send me back there! Please! Please, no! I can't go back! Don't make me, please! I'll do anything! I swear! I'll do anything you ask me to!" I call out feebly into the darkness. I know it is a futile attempt, however. I feel myself being transported across the worlds, and suddenly I am thrown onto a pile of rubble. The ground is scorching, and all around me are flames. I can't breathe in this smog, so I force myself upright and begin to run. Faintly I realize that I am human again._

_I call out for my one last chance. "Will! Please! You said you would protect me! Where are you? Why won't you save me from this place?" I manage between coughs. The smoke is horrible. I wait for an answer, but none comes._

_I am completely alone in this hell. The Erazor has flung me where not even my guardian angel can pull me out of._

"_God…God please…don't make me suffer here…" I fall to my knees, praying to the One I know only wants the best for me. "Why am I here, God? What is it you want me to do?" I add as time creeps by with no change in the scenery around me. I bow my head, knowing that, for whatever reason, God has a purpose for me here. I rise to my feet again and begin to make my way out of the flames. Just beyond this unrecognizable town is large field. The grass is short and brown, as though there has been a drought. I run out into the field, and slowly the smoke leaves my lungs. I run and run, knowing that the more I can get air going through my body, the less smoke that stays inside of my lungs. I gulp in the somewhat-fresh air, for the most part untainted by the inferno behind me._

_Finally, I turn back to look. I am standing up on a hill now and all I can see is smoke and flames. I realize, finally, that I heard no screams while I was running through the streets. That means either everyone got out in time or, more likely…_

_A chill runs through my bones. All those poor people, suffocated by smoke or crushed by burning buildings. I force myself to stop thinking about it and I continued walking in the direction I was originally headed._

_As I make my way down the hill, I notice it getting incredibly steeper the more I go. Rocks become unstable as I work my way cautiously down the decline. Suddenly my foot slips and gets caught in a crevice. My ankle throbs with pain; I have twisted it severely. I catch myself from falling and remain there for a moment, taking slow, deep breaths in order to keep from crying out. Slowly I turn my head to look at my foot. Sure enough, my ankle is twisted too far in the wrong direction. Gingerly I lift it out of the crack, careful not to bang it against anything else. My entire foot is turning purple, and I know I've got to pop it back into place if I want to be able to walk at all._

_I take the collar of my shirt and ball it up, stuffing it into my mouth to bite down on. Clenching my teeth, I take my foot in both hands and crack it back into place. Despite my best efforts to keep pain at a minimum, I fall back with pain and let out a loud cry. It is one of the worst pains I had ever experienced. But I know I have to keep going in order to find out why I'm supposed to be here._

_I continue down the ridge, much slower now. I am limping but at least I am able to put a bit of weight on it at all. Movement to my left catches my eye. A small child darts behind a large rock as I look in it's direction. I see it though, and I note that the boy is dirty and malnourished._

"_Hey! Please, help me!" I call out to him. There's bound to be someone else around here somewhere; someone who maybe has something for pain. Right at that moment, I don't care if it's weed. If it'll take away the pain for a bit, I wouldn't mind it._

_The boy peeks around the rock again at me. His skin appears dark and he has black hair with almond-shaped dark eyes. I reach a hand out to him, and he finally speaks._

"_I'll help you if you help us," he says. Behind him a bigger boy appears, looking much like the younger one. "This is my brother. He'll carry you to our place. But you must keep it a secret."_

_I nod, happy for any kind of help. As the older one approaches me I can't help but notice that he is built much like Will. His muscles are well noticeable underneath his torn shirt, but another noticeable feature of his was his lack of body fat. He was too malnourished. He picks me up with ease, though, and I think that maybe they're not in too bad of shape._

_Walking around the boulder, he carries me into a shallow cave. I see a figure lying on the floor and I hear moans of pain._

"_My mother…she's dying, we think. Is there anything we can do to keep her from dying?" The older boy asks as he sets me down._

"_I…I don't know. I'll see," I decide that I won't get help otherwise. I lean over her and immediately I notice the growth on the right side of her head. _Cancer._ The word makes me feel sick, but I force myself to keep calm. Sadly, I turn to the two boys. "She has cancer. Or a tumor. I'm not really sure, but I do know that there's nothing I can do because I'm not a doctor or a surgeon. But I do know that she's suffering a lot, but I think that's obvious." I can't help but think that we should end her suffering early; to grant her peace._

_But, I don't think the boys would want that. Plus I don't even know if I would be giving her peace, or if I was giving her a short-cut to Hell._

_I find out quickly the answer to my last question when she reaches over and puts a hand weakly on mine. "Please…are you…Christian?"_

_I am shocked by the sudden question but I have a feeling I know where this is going. "Yes, I am. You're not, are you?"_

_She shakes her head slightly. "How do I become one? I want to accept Him."_

_A small bit of warmth fills my heart as I realize why God wanted me to stay. "Pray. I'll pray with you," I take her hand and we bow our heads to pray._

"_God I am a sinner and I need you as my Savior!" The woman says a bit louder, tears running out of her eyes._

"_Please receive this woman with open arms and a warm heart, Lord. I trust that you forgive her," I finish for the woman. Suddenly, her breathing stops, and she smiles. "Lord, take her home."_

"_Home…" the boys and I barely hear her whisper. She is gone, but her smile remains._

_The scene around me fades and I am plunged into darkness again. Strong arms are around me, just briefly, and I know that Will has come once again to pull me back where I belong. The pain in my ankle leaves me._

_Suddenly there is nothing. My thoughts are blank. My memories are blank. Everything is blank. I fall into unconsciousness and I hear Will murmur something to me._

"_Hang in there, tough girl. I know things are rough, but it's not your time to head home yet. Hang in there. You'll be back together in no time."_

* * *

Okay so by some **miracle** I was able to upload this interlude so soon! This one is a bit longer than the others because there is more to tell. There are probably like a million and one typos, but I'll worry about that later. I hope you all enjoy the latest chapter and I'm probably going to have the next one up by either next weekend or the weekend after. School's starting to bear down hard on me but I'm trying to remember my fans!

*~Soul Pieces signin' out~*


	14. Avast!  Pirates!

Woo! Okay. So this is like the LONGEST chapter I've written so far, mainly because I decided to add a bit more character-to-character interaction, and also I tried to describe everything a bit more. I'm so sorry that this hasn't been updated in three weeks! I know you guys must be so mad. But to make up for it, I published a new story, "The Lost Legend of Hyrule." While y'all are waiting for me to update this story, you could start on that one too :3 Again, I'm really sorry I took so long, but I hit writer's block about the middle of this chapter. I was somewhat worried about it being a longer chapter, but I guess it'll all be fine. So probably the chapters from here on out will be more around this length. Do you like it better this way? Tell me in the reviews what you think I should do differently!

~*Soul Pieces signin' out!*~

* * *

**Chapter 11—Avast! Pirates!**

The next day was no better than the day before, much to Sonic's disappointment. Well, weather-wise, anyways. He smiled as the small golden hedgehog next to him shifted in her sleep, moving closer to him. Gently he stroked her quills, which were uncharacteristically not in a ponytail. Some had fallen over her face as she slept next to him, but mostly it was all laying close to her back, as though she were completely relaxed. He loved the new look.

Both were sitting up inside the cave they used for shelter the day before, Aly's head resting on Sonic's shoulder. The rain outside echoed throughout the small cavern, and Sonic shivered. He hated anything having to do with water, and this downpour was definitely not what he wanted to wake up to.

The Water Blue Ring was causing all the storms, now controlled by the pirates that docked to the south. _Sinbad was stupid to have let_ _it fall into their hands,_ Sonic though irritably. It would have been so much nicer if the echidna had the ring with him when Sonic freed him from his cage on the Rukh. _But I would have had to come here anyways, for Aly's next soul piece. But maybe it wouldn't have been so stormy._

As if to emphasize the last word, thunder cracked loudly outside, causing Aly to stir again beside him. She sat upright and blinked her eyes a few times, then looked over at Sonic. She began to trace letters into the palm of his hand with her finger.

"G-O-O-D-M-O-R-N-I-N-G" she spelled out. Sonic smiled and kissed her forehead.

"Good morning to you too," he replied. "We need to hurry up and find your last soul piece. Or we could just teach you sign language."

Her response was just a grin.

Sonic tried to shake some of the moisture from his fur, now that Aly was awake. Sadly, it didn't do much good, as he felt he was soaked to the bone. Aly stood up and walked outside and lifted her face up into the rain, smiling. He shook his head. _Still don't understand her._ He thought as she twirled around in the pouring rain. They were practically polar opposites.

_And yet I love her anyways._

He grinned as he thought of her as _his,_ and he felt his heart skip a beat or two as she walked back into the cave. She gave him a mischievous grin and then outstretched her arms for a hug.

"No way, you're dripping wet!" Sonic laughed as he backed away from her. She only smiled wider and began to chase him around the small cave, finally tackling him as he slipped in a puddle of water.

"Augh! Water! It burns!" He said jokingly as Aly pinned him down, shaking droplets from her fur all over him. "Okay, seriously, stop! Come on, I'm already wet enough! You know I hate water!"

She stopped obediently, but her eyes still sparkled with devilry as she proudly kept him pinned down. She might as well have spoken out loud. "Haha I have power over you!"

_That's what you think…_ Sonic thought to himself cunningly. He wriggled one arm free and gently caressed her cheek with the back of his hand, and he felt her grip on him loosen, just as he planned.

_Gotcha._

He leapt up, careful not to throw her off too hard. She landed on the ground before him, and kept her head down as though she were hurt that he'd trick her like that.

"Hey, only joking," he said gently as he knelt down and lifted her chin to face him. "It's payback for the water," he kissed her gently and knew she'd forgive him. "Come on, we need to go find that ring so we can get away from all this moisture," he complained. She nodded in response, taking his hand in hers.

Sonic was caught a bit off guard and looked down at her. She smiled up at him and squeezed his hand. He smiled in reply and kissed her forehead. Without another word they ran out into the rain together.

It was the first time they'd ever run together, rather than against each other, as Aly observed. She definitely preferred this. There was no competition, no pushing herself past her limit just to put a cocky blue hedgehog in his place. No thinking, just running and being led by the one she'd fallen in love with in this crazy world.

Had anyone told her 7 months ago that she'd be running beside a hedgehog going faster than a cheetah through the world of a book in search of some crazy ring with her soul broken apart, she would have thought they were crazy. Had they told her she'd also be in love with this hedgehog, she would have wondered which insane asylum they'd broken out of.

But that was then, in a crazy, screwed up world where she was just barely surviving by the skin of her teeth with no human help. All she'd had was her guardian angel and God. Not that that was a bad thing, but it did make her long for a physical companion.

And this was now, and she was loving every bit of it. Her fingers were intertwined with the blue blur's, and she let him lead her south, off to the shores in order to get a special ring that controlled storms. She felt her quills flying out behind her, the wind pulling at every bit of her, the rain massaging her as it picked up ferocity. Or maybe they had just picked up speed. She wasn't sure, since everything was already a crazy blur around her.

Her long quills whipping behind her was a new experience for her. She was so used to having them up in an organized ponytail; not flung every which away behind her. But the way Sonic had looked at her when she'd first taken her ponytail down…she didn't want to forget it. He looked like he was seeing a completely different, exotic person. She'd seen the expression in his eyes and it made her blush inwardly. She wished he'd look at her like that every day. That was the feeling she wanted to feel all the time. So for him, she kept her quills down, the ponytail tie now around her wrist as though it was a bracelet.

She snuck a glance up at Sonic. He was definitely born to run. He seemed completely focused on the trail ahead, but yet joy and excitement shone through in his deep green eyes. Suddenly she felt herself being lifted up and realized he'd placed her on his back, and picked up more speed. She laughed a soundless laugh as the wind pulled on her harder and the rain penetrated her fur all the way down to her skin. It felt _great._

Of course, Sonic probably had a different word for how the rain felt. But that was all a matter of opinion.

A loud boom resounded around them; Aly at first thought it was a large blast of thunder, but then she realized they'd broken the sound barrier. Her arms were wrapped tightly around his shoulders and she could feel his pulse quickening ridiculously. He was pushing himself in order to distract himself from the rain, she realized.

_Stupid hydrophobic hedgehog!_ She thought. _You'll faint if you keep this up!_

Oh how she wished she could speak.

She tapped him on the head, and he slowed down considerably, looking up at her. "What?"

Aly held up a hand and mouthed "_stop."_ Obediently, Sonic came to a skidding halt, his breathing heavy and uneven. She picked up a stick and began to write in the mud.

_Don't push yourself so hard._ Sonic laughed, despite his lack of breath.

"I just want to get out of here as fast as possible. You know I hate water," he finally caught his breath. His spikes were drooping considerably behind his head and now he was positively soaked. He looked miserable. Aly nodded in reply and tapped what she'd written, and then wrote two more words below them.

_Promise me._ She held out her pinkie.

Sonic grinned and wrapped his around hers. "Of course. Don't worry so much, okay? If you have time to worry, then run!" With the final words, he placed her back on his back, and took off again. But, keeping his promise, he ran a little slower.

The word "easy" would not have fit the course that lay ahead of the two hedgehogs. They had finally reached the shore…on the wrong side. All around them, ships were wrecked and the sea raged, the dark waves roaring against the shore. Farther off into the sea, pirate ships that were still intact were waiting ominously. Large, saw-like things spiraled across their path, obviously manipulated by the Erazor's dark magic. Upon closer inspection, they saw that the saws were made of cutlasses that were attached to each other in the middle of the circle. Not to mention the oh-so-wonderful spiked balls were back, either tumbling down hills across the path or remaining stationary between jumps. A new variation of them were in between the longer jumps—these balls were spiked on one side, and on the other side, a spring. Some turned over slowly, others Sonic would have to use Time Break in order to cross them.

Sonic came to a screeching halt and let Aly off his back. She landed solidly and looked around at the course before them. She took Sonic's hand nervously, the dark storm clouds above and the dark shore not helping the scene before them.

Of course, Sonic, as cocky as ever, spoke first with an air of confidence: "Man, this is so easy! I bet I could run this with my eyes closed!" He looked at his girl, a smug grin across his face.

She looked back at him with terrified eyes, and he chuckled. "Of course I don't mean that literally! I'm going to be careful. After all, I have precious cargo with me," he winked. Aly couldn't help but smile slightly in response, although fear still shone in her eyes. Subconsciously, she gripped his hand tighter.

"Ahh! Hey, watch the iron grip, please!" Sonic laughed good-naturedly. "I won't let anything bad happen to you, okay? I promise." He kissed the top of her head, and she nodded.

Somehow, Sonic knew that even if she could have spoken, she would have remained silently worried afterwards. "Here, we won't travel too fast. Does that make things a bit better?" He offered the small golden hedgehog. She nodded, looking a bit more brave now. "Certainly you didn't expect me to move that fast here!" Sonic laughed. "I may seem reckless, but I know what's too dangerous, even for me! And like I said, I have to be extra-careful anyways. I've got you with me." With his trademark smirk, the blue hedgehog took off again, moving at a slightly slower speed.

_This isn't exactly what I had in mind…_Aly began to think as they continued to pick up speed.

Sonic came to a sudden halt and yanked her to the side just in time for the place where she had been standing to ignite into flames. She let out a wordless yelp and started shaking, but she tried not to panic too much.

The far-off pirate ships had begun to move closer to the shore and had spotted them now, and were firing cannonballs at the two hedgehogs. Another one began to rocket towards them, and Sonic pulled Aly with him in a quick dash forward, just enough to be free of the flames.

_I freaking hate pirates. I'm with Sonic now, I just wanna get the ring and get out of here._

After a few more close encounters with a few cannonballs, the duo managed to round the corner and move away from the pirates. Aly let out a sigh of relief, but it was short, as Sonic began to pick up speed again, nearing a few jumps across the ocean that were interrupted by the spinning cutlasses. She knew that even Sonic would probably hesitate before this obstacle, just because it was over the angry waters.

Sure enough, Sonic did stop. But he didn't hesitate, he simply charged up a jump and leapt into the air, gaining massive height. Aly had, last-minute, jumped with him, propelling them even higher. Together they did an air dash, successfully crossing the jumps from platform to platform without ever having to deal with the blades. They soared easily above them, and Sonic began laughing as he experienced what Aly was always used to. Moving through the air, Sonic was not as fast as he was on ground, of course, so therefore this was some-thing he never did. And, despite the storm raging above them and the dark waters and evil blades below, Sonic felt something like magic fill the air around them. He laughed at the feeling, relishing in the fact that he got to share it with Aly. He looked at her and gave her his trademark grin, to which she responded with a big smile and squeezed his hand.

The magic quickly came to an end, however, when they touched down on the other side. For just ahead of them were some very…strange creatures.

"Shahra? Are those more of Erazor's henchmen?" Sonic asked the genie.

"Yes, they're more accustomed to a water-based environment." Before the trio stood four strange creatures. They reminded Aly of brooms. Their bodies were shaped like an elongated broom, with a horn spouting out of their heads that looked like a handle, only contributing to their broom-like appearance. They were mostly blue with black faces that appeared to be sunken in from the rest of their bodies. They jumped around to move and apparently liked to vomit on their opponents, as Sonic soon found out.

"Ew, gross!" He complained. Thankfully, though, the slime was quickly washed away by the downpour.

"Watch out when they tremble like that!" Shahra warned the two as the creature nearest to them began to shake. "Move away!" She shouted, grabbing onto each hedgehog's wrists and yanking them away. The spirit let out a long burst of electrical energy, and had they not moved, they would have been within range. The djinn screeched in anger that its prey had escaped it, but Aly quickly cut him short with a swift roundhouse kick. _Good thing I picked up those martial arts lessons. _She thought briefly. The djinn flattened out completely, its horn dislodging itself from its head. As it dissipated, the horn bounced near Aly. She reached for it.

"Don't!" Shahra's call stopped her not a moment too soon. She cast a questioning look towards the genie. "You can't touch the horns, they contain the Erazor's dark magic, and can overtake your mind with so much as a touch," Shahra explained as Aly stood back up, nodding in understanding. A shiver traveled through her bones. _I'm already in enough deep crap. I don't need to be _mind-controlled_ too._ She thought irritably.

"Wow, you know that's the first time I've actually seen you fight?" Sonic asked her as they both took off again. She nodded and shrugged in response.

"Just too lazy?" He teased.

She stuck her tongue out at him; combined with her facial expression she seemed to be saying "bite me."

He cuffed her over the ear, triggering an angry nip at his hand. She grinned evilly as he jumped back from her. "Seriously? Did you really just bite me?" He asked in shock. Aly simply turned her attention back to the road ahead of them and took off, seeming to wanting to challenge him to another race.

Sonic was more than happy to oblige.

Their race led them on around the shoreline, jumping over crashed boats and swerving cannon balls that were still being fired at them. Ahead of them now was just a row of pirate ships. One look at Sonic, and Aly knew that they were headed to the ships. She could see pirate djinns circling the deck. _Oh great._ She thought.

The pair leapt on to the boat and immediately tore into the djinns. Sonic bounced from one to another using homing attacks while Aly decided she'd just stick to using her fists and feet. She ran by them scratching, punching, and kicking them out of her way. They traveled across three more pirate ships until Sonic jumped back onto the shore. Aly was close behind, but immediately stopped when they entered the cave.

Hearing her gasp, Sonic skidded to a halt and turned around to see her looking around her with large, amazed eyes. The cave was a beautiful cyan with all kinds of different water-based plants growing around them. Towards the middle, there was an extremely shallow pool of water, which reflected its waves onto the rock walls around them. Outside the storm still raged, but inside the cave everything was…nearly peaceful.

"Wow! It's so pretty!" Shahra exclaimed, joining the two hedgehogs once again. Sonic nodded and walked back over to Aly. He leaned over and whispered into her ear, "But not as pretty as you."

In response, Aly blushed and laid her head on his shoulder. He leaned over and kissed her cheek. "Come on, we've gotta find that ring." Again, he took off, Aly easily keeping pace beside him. Their race forgotten, the pair of hedgehogs ran somewhat slowly (at least, for them), through the cave, Shahra floating close behind, marveling at the cave's natural beauty.

They soon were out of the cave and back into the storm. "I think I liked being in the cave better," Sonic joked as he tried to shake off the water. The rain had slowed down, though, so he wasn't as drenched as he'd been before.

_I know I did,_ Aly glanced swiftly back behind her, and then looked ahead to see that they were coming upon an obstacle course of those spinning cutlasses. Despite the moisture, her fur began to prickle with frustration. _I'm so sick of dodging all these stupid things! I'm so sick of this guy!_ She was glad it was raining, for her tears of frustration were easily hidden.

"Is this his idea of giving us a workout?" Sonic eyed the obstacle course ahead of them. "Well, whatever. Do you want to run through it yourself or do you want me to carry you again?" Sonic turned to her.

She held up two fingers, and Sonic picked her up and immediately took off. "Awesome choice. _**Time break!**_"

Everything around the two hedgehogs slowed thanks to Shahra's magic. Aly watched with wide eyes as they swept past the blades with ease, and she couldn't help but think, _he really is amazing._ She wrapped her arms around his neck and looked up at him. He looked down at her briefly, brandishing a big smile, then turned his attention back to the route in front of him. Time Break was coming to an end, and he still had one more set of blades to dash past. He picked up speed just in time to make it through before Time Break stopped, and the blades began to whizz and whirl, resuming their initial speed as though nothing had even happened. "Well, that was just too easy!" Sonic grinned with pride, setting down Aly. She shook her head at him, but a smile was playing on her lips. The two again took off together, heading across platforms toward an enormous wrecked pirate ship. One of the platforms crumbled behind Sonic and left Aly standing on the other side. She looked down at the water below her, hoping that maybe she could swim across it.

No such luck; the dark waters foamed and roared below her, too rough for her to attempt to swim across. She judged the distance between her and the next platform, and while she hesitated, two green djinns began to make their way towards her. She grinned at her luck—she could just use a homing attack!

Of course, she'd never actually done one before…but she figured she'd watched Sonic enough that she could do it. Charging up a jump, she focused on the first djinn, then launched herself into the air. Curling into a ball and closing her eyes, she began to roll until she had enough momentum to carry her over to the first djinn. She allowed all her other senses to lead her towards the djinn, then felt her sharp spines connect with the spirit's body, sending them in opposite directions. She quickly uncurled herself to locate the next spirit, then repeated the process. When she unrolled the second time, she propelled herself to the other platform, where Sonic was standing, grinning from ear to ear. He reached out to catch her as she fell back to the ground.

"You're amazing in everything you do, you know that?" He whispered into her ear. She smiled at him, and he set her back on her feet. The two took off once again, barging through the ship and out onto the shore at the other end. Just beyond them, they could see a docked pirate ship with four or five more slime djinns. Upon spotting the two hedgehogs, they howled in rage and then began to fuse together.

"Whoa, since when can those creeps do THAT?" Sonic asked rhetorically as they came to a skidding stop on the shoreline facing the large ship. Aly shrugged in response, her eyes trained on the creature forming before them.

It was similar to a manta ray in shape, but it had 4 long, narrow, up-turned horns on its head and a pirate's hat. It was aquamarine in color and lashed out its wide, jaw-like arms at them in rage. The two hedgehogs could see its vicious, sharp-pointed teeth behind the arms.

"Aha! Someone's looking for a duel!" Sonic laughed, jumping in place in preparation to charge at the monster.

"Sonic, be careful! Captain Bemoth is not a force to be reckoned with…." Shahra started warningly.

"Hm, is that so? This should be interesting. Come on, let's have some fun!" He added, turning to Aly. She nodded, determination sparking in her green eyes. Captain Bemoth took off down the shoreline, turning around and daring the two to challenge him. They both accepted the challenge and charged after the monster.

_It's time to receive the Ring that controls storms, and then move on to find my final Soul Piece._


	15. Ring of Storms

OMG GUYS GUESS WHAT?

No I didn't give up on this story, I promise I'm still working on it! It's just, I got all caught up in school finals and such, and then I got sick, then I had a rhinoplasty...just ugh. It's not been good. Anyways, I FINALLY got this chapter up, after having writer's block for a while. Less happens in this chapter than normal, but that's because describing the fight took FOREVER. But I added a bit more fluff in the story, because who doesn't like the fluff? ^w^

One more thing: There's a poll on my profile to help me choose what the title of my next Sonic FanFic should be. You can read all the details of it on my profile. Please vote and help me decide on a name! I won't publish it until I have a name for it, and right now there are a total of 4 choices. More might be added as I think them up.

Anyways, please enjoy the chapter, and review!

* * *

**Chapter 12—Ring of Storms**

Captain Bemoth, as it turned out, was definitely not the easiest foe that Sonic had ever faced. But, he wasn't the hardest foe he'd ever faced either. (That was Metal Sonic).

But definitely, Bemoth was something entirely different from Eggman.

For one thing, this thing shot off missiles at the two hedgehogs as they chased it down the shoreline. As thunder roared above them and rain pelted them, soaking them to the bone, Behemoth shot off 9 or 10 missiles at Aly and Sonic, and they were forced to separate to avoid getting hit.

Slowly they were making progress and getting closer to the captain. It was then that Aly realized she had no idea what she was really aiming for anyways; she had no clue what this thing's weak spot was.

_Ugh, I really wish I could talk! I can't ask him what the weak point is!_ She thought to herself. She slowed down a bit to keep behind Sonic a little bit and watched carefully to see what he would do.

He seemed to asses the creature for just a brief moment, then leapt forward to latch on to one of the horns on its head. Bemoth roared in anger and pain as Sonic started wriggling back and forth, slowly pulling the horn out of place on its head. With a final, explosive roar from the monster, Sonic was able to pull the first horn out. Purple blood spurted out from Bemoth's head, which Aly had to avoid carefully, as Sonic tossed the horn out into the sea. Captain Bemoth roared and lashed out with an electricity-carrying tentacle, and shockwaves were sent the two hedgehogs' ways. Since Sonic was just getting his footing back on the ground, Aly had to help him jump over the first wave just in time. He continued to hold her hand as they jumped over the next two shockwaves before being able to run straight again.

Slowly they began to gain to the Captain again, but this time it seemed they weren't going to be able to approach it from the front, since it was getting a bit more aggressive with those front tentacles. With a sudden understanding between them they began speeding up, trying to get on either side of the monster. At the same time, the two hedgehogs launched themselves at the two horns that sat on either side of Bemoth's head, and they began wiggling just like Sonic had with the first horn. Suddenly Sonic felt his quills beginning to stand up, despite all the rain, and he heard the cackle of electricity behind him. Turning around he could see an enormous ball of electricity forming between the three remaining horns.

"Let go!" He called over to Aly, doing a back flip in order to dodge the ball of electricity that was quickly gaining in size.

Aly landed beside him, her ankle catching in a hole and briefly causing her to stumble. Sonic reached for her, but she waved him off, her running slightly slower now as she tried to keep her weight off her ankle. She resumed jumping off the cliffs in order to stay off of her ankle as much as possible, and they began their tactic again of trying to remove two horns at once. This time, Sonic managed to wriggle his free, and Bemoth began to thrash again, giving Aly just the extra strength she needed to pull this next horn free. As she fell to the ground Bemoth tried to swipe at her with his enormous front tentacle, but Sonic managed to grab her just in time out of harm's way. He set her down on a ledge a little bit above the shore and motioned for her to stay.

"Stay off that ankle, I promise I'll be right back. You know how fast I can be!" He propelled himself off the ledge onto the main shore again before she could reach out to stop him, and before she knew it, he disappeared around the bend, still chasing a roaring, electricity-wielding Captain Bemoth.

She glanced down at her ankle and noted minimal swelling as of now, and it was still very moveable. _Nothing to worry about. Too bad I have to miss out on all the action…_

* * *

There was one horn left for him to grab, and Bemoth wasn't going to make it easy for Sonic the Hedgehog. He was now throwing out waves of electricity left and right, and now even adding enormous waves for Sonic to jump over.

"Gah, I hate water! Slow down there, fella, I need that World Ring of yours!" he exclaimed as one of the waves caught him briefly, pushing him back and allowing the captain more room to escape.

He realized that these walls of water were actually pretty solid; maybe even solid enough to jump over. He decided it would be worth a try, so he charged up a high jump in order to clear the waves. As he came back down, he carefully timed a second jump off the next wave, and thankfully they provided just enough support to hoist him back up into the air. Now jumping each wave, he began to gain faster on Captain Bemoth. The captain fired off some more missiles, which were easier for Sonic to avoid now that he was back on the ground without any waves to worry about avoiding. He put on a final burst of speed as he neared the captain for one final time, and he managed to latch onto his final horn. With a final mighty roar from the captain, Sonic managed to pull loose the last horn before he could finish charging up another electricity attack.

As he landed back on the ground, a quick look back up to the sky showed a light blue ring slowly falling to the ground. Shahra appeared besides him, reaching out for the world ring.

"That's another one of the seven rings...the Water Blue Ring. I can't even touch the ring."

It passed right through her hand and into Sonic's. As sparks flew from the ring, he spoke.

"Looks like I'm the only one who can touch them. I betcha it's because I'm not from this world. Does this mean these rings aren't from this world, either?"

"Sonic…" Shahra started.

"This has to be the ring that Sinbad was telling us about before. Now, let's go get Aly and go back and defeat that, um…whatchamacallit," he seemed to not have heard her.

"The Ifrit, the great spirit of fire," she corrected him.

Sonic ran back to the ledge where he'd left Aly and to see her sitting peacefully facing away from him, out over the stormy seas. By now the rain had ceased, although the skies were still dark and the sea was still turbulent. He was at an angle where he could just see her eyes, which seemed so peaceful as opposed to the violent weather around them. He walked up behind her and knelt down so he could hug her around her waist, and she started at the sudden touch. She looked around swiftly to see Sonic looking down on her with a big grin on his face.

"I'm done, by the way," he said to her, kissing her forehead. She grinned at him and laid back into him, and he rested his chin on her head, content just for a little while for a break in the action.

_Maybe it's not so bad to slow down every once in a while._ He thought to himself as he lost himself in the moment…

…Which was quickly ruined by the arrival of Ali Baba, seeming pretty distraught.

"There's smoke coming from the castle! It looks like the Ifrit's power to burn the world away is getting stronger!" He exclaimed, pointing off in the direction of the castle.

Sonic stood and helped Aly up, his sense of duty taking him over. "Okay, I'm ready!" He exclaimed as they both took off back to the Evil Foundry, where the Ifrit was currently working it's magic. "I hope you're ready for this, genie!"

3


	16. The Fire Golem

**Chapter 13—The Fire Golem**

"It's kinda hard to run if you're hanging on to my arm, ya know?" Sonic tried to joke as he gently pried his arm from her iron grasp.

She looked up at him briefly, worry coming off of her in waves. The defenses in the Evil Foundry seemed to have increased 10-fold since the hedgehog duo and genie had last been there, obvious work of the Ifrit. Not only that, but there was suddenly a whole lot more lava around.

Naturally, this all made Aly extremely nervous.

Especially since she and the Blue Blur were currently trying their best to balance on a large beam stretched across an enormous pool of water. Aly was shaking so badly that every few seconds she had to grab on to his arm to steady herself, which often caused them both to almost lose balance. The extreme heat wasn't helping her steadiness in any way.

"C'mon, Aly, it'll be okay, just don't look down!" Sonic half-begged as he found himself caught in another vice grip after she'd silently screamed for the 1000th time. He'd carry her across if he could, but the heat was wearing down both hedgehogs rather fast, and he was afraid he'd run too low on energy, and they'd both go plummeting into the inferno.

"Just a little bit farther, I promise! Just focus on my back quills, and walk in a straight line behind me. You can do it!" He encouraged, trying once again to pick up their pace across the beam.

Finally, _finally,_ he was able to coax the smaller hedgehog across the beam. Shaking, she practically fell to the ground as they reached the other side. She was none to thrilled about what she saw in the next room: a bunch of enemies all scattered over _another_ pool of lava, which they'd have to homing attack to.

Oh, and debris was falling from the roof, meaning they had to have great timing, or else the Erazor might be having Roast Hedgehog for dinner that night.

She silently moaned and put her head back to the ground; her gesture catching the elder hedgehog's eye.

He let out a chuckle. "Come on, you can do it! You easily made it across the sea using the same technique!"

Without removing her face from the floor, she pointed at the falling debris.

"Oh, that? No problem! Time it right and you can use that as another target too! Now, LET'S BLAST OFF AT SONIC SPEED!"

This made Aly glance up at him, concern for his mental health crossing her features. He looked back at her with a confused expression.

"I…don't even know. This heat must be getting to me!"

All past scenario references were forgotten as some debris fell dangerously close to the edge of the pool, sending lava catapulting up into the air and landing dangerously close to the golden hedgehog. With speed that rivaled Sonic's, she sprang up and hid behind him, once again trembling like a leaf in a hurricane.

"See? It's time to get moving!" Leaving her standing, Sonic took off on a homing attack chain across the lava pit, bouncing off one monster after another. The strange djinns that for some reason didn't even seem to notice him using them as stepping stones fell one by one into the fiery lake.

Nervously, Aly tried to force herself to follow her blue boyfriend, but hesitated at the very edge of the pit. The heat was causing her to become very dizzy; as she wasn't used to such extremes. But she knew she had to eventually get across. She forced herself to focus on the scenario in front of her, her analytical mind beginning to try to put timing with the falling debris, and eventually she was able to see a pattern with very slight variability. Gathering up all the courage she had within her, she jumped and curled into a ball, directing her path to the first piece of falling debris, finding it a steadier target than she first assumed. She easily pushed off with her feet, launching herself high into the air again.

_It's just like jumping across cliffs. My legs are built for jumping. I can do this._

Jumping from djinn to falling debris, Aly found herself on solid ground faster than she thought she'd be. She gasped as she felt the ground beneath her no longer give way, and then felt Sonic's furry arms around her, nuzzling her hair.

"Ya see? I told you it was okay!" He grinned his trademark cocky grin, releasing her quickly due to the heat. "Now, let's see what else there is to tackle!" He turned on a dime and took off, leaving Aly behind to pin her ears back in frustration before tearing off after him.

Thankfully, there wasn't too much else crazy to conquer. Just a few walls to run up while avoiding mine carts with spiked ends, a few spike-covered doors to avoid at crazy speeds that swung out at you at random, and a few enormous djinns made from metal to dodge before the lumbering creatures stomped them into the dirt.

After what seemed like an eternity, the trio finally reached the room where the Ifrit was causing all kinds of uproar.

"Sorry to keep ya waiting!" Sonic teased as they came to a screeching halt. The Ifrit roared in his face. "I didn't mean to leave you hanging earlier!" He went on. "You're not still mad at me, are you? You really need to learn to be more patient, you know. Now Ring of Water! Bring forth a mighty storm!" Sonic held the ring high above their heads and a downpour began to occur in the room, soothing some of the blazing heat that Aly was almost finding to be too much. She eagerly cast her face upward as the Ifrit screeched at the sudden burst of liquid. Smoke rose from its body as it sunk lower in the lava, trying to escape the rain.

"Sonic, look! The Ifrit is getting weaker!" Shahra pointed, seeming to do her best to outdo a certain annoying fairy created by a rival company…

However, true to his courteous nature (towards allies/friends), he simply nodded and exclaimed, "Now, let's finish him off! You ready, Aly?" He looked over at the young flower, who seemed suddenly much more lively in the rain, which Sonic had been sure to command the ring to keep away from him. She nodded excitedly, taking off in the opposite direction around the enormous circular room.

"Ya know, I've let you play around enough for one day!" Sonic taunted as he, too, began to charge around the room.

"Sonic, be careful! The Ifrit is no child!" Shahra pointed out "helpfully." "I sense a strong power coming from its head! You've got to find a way to get him to lower his head into range!"

As they passed each other, Sonic turned swiftly and managed to tell Aly, "Aim for the knuckles! Get him to fall!"

Without question, she began to analyze his movement patterns. She could do nothing if his golden-colored knuckles were covered, but at some times, he uncovered them, and after a few failed attempts to cut through the metal guards, she figured she'd have to wait.

Finally, a glitter of gold caught her eye, and without hesitation she shot straight towards it, curling into a ball in mid-air and delivering a crushing blow to the three knuckles. With a mighty roar, the Ifrit sunk lower into the lava, causing the level to rise. She could have sworn she heard Shahra mention something about how, when the Ifrit fell, the lava level in that furnace would rise. _Because we totally can't see that, right?_

"Watch out!" She heard Sonic's voice call above the din of the fight. She screeched to a halt on top of one of the higher platforms, watching as the Blue Blur used debris to reach the Ifrit's arm faster, now easily reaching the beacon of power on top of its head, also golden in color. A well-timed homing attack dealt some massive damage, and the golem recoiled sharply, lifting its body back up into the air, and resuming its attack patterns, although this time he began to spout missiles, lasers, and falling boulders in the paths of the hedgehogs.

They repeated their attack pattern twice more, with the Ifrit showing little weakening even after the 3rd attack.

"Stubborn little fella, isn't he?" Sonic joked. "Well, okay, maybe not 'little.' Hey Aly, switch me roles!" He called out to her as they neared each other again, still moving in their opposite paths. She nodded that she'd heard him, then took to circling the outer ring of the room, a little bit further away from the Ifrit.

Within nearly no time at all, the Ifrit fell back into the lava with a pain-filled screech, and Aly wasted no time launching on to its arm to reach the beacon on top. As she delivered several punches and kicks in quick succession, a bright light began to shine from the beacon.

"All right, it looks like it's almost lights out for you, big guy!" Sonic's voice echoed throughout the room.

The Ifrit suddenly changed its attack plan, and sunk back into the lava, causing the level to rise again, leaving the hedgehogs on opposite sides of the enormous room. Aly barely stopped in time to keep herself from falling in, and she looked at Sonic with a confused and fearful expression. The Ifrit Golem began to shoot out large, explosive barrels towards both ends of the room, causing the two to go on a frantic dodging run on their small platforms, until finally the attack subsided, and the Ifrit resumed to holding itself up with its hands.

As soon as the water level receded, the two took no time in falling the Ifrit once again. As he sunk into the lava, Shahra called out, "Ifrit, prepare yourself!" As if the metal-bodied spirit could actually understand her.

The two hedgehogs decided to finish it off together, launching a barrage of homing attacks, kicks, and punches to the beacon on its head.

With a mighty roar, the Ifrit Golem gripped its head tightly, casting the two fighters off in either direction, pure luck guaranteeing them a safe landing on the metal platforms still afloat in the lava. Its body began to explode as it thrashed around in pain, roaring with all its might as it realized its demise. As it continued to sink, Sonic couldn't help but to add in another cocky remark.

"Now I see why they tell you not to play with fire!"

From across the room, Aly rolled her eyes, a smile playing upon her features as the Ifrit disappeared into the lava. A small orb floated out from where it had sank, landing at Sonic's feet. As Aly managed to jump over to join them, Shahra was on her stomach, her long ear close to the strange object.

"I can hear…I can hear something like a heartbeat," she was saying as Aly drew close. The yellow hedgehog couldn't help but to poke the object, only to be quickly yanked back by Sonic.

"Uh, guys…I think that's some sort of time bomb!" He exclaimed.

Shahra cast him a distressed look. "It's beating faster!"

"Oh no! This can't be good!" He quickly scooped up the bomb and pointed towards where he figured the outside was. "We've got to get out of here! This thing has to explode out in the open!"

"You're right!" Shahra exclaimed, Aly backing her up with a swift nod. Sonic grabbed the younger girl by the wrist and took off, racing against the clock to get out of there before the bomb went off. In such a heated and explosive environment, should it explode, it would cause an explosion so massive, the entire surrounding lands would be blown to bits.

So, needless to say, they had to book it out of there.

After dodging djinn after djinn, ducking under pipes and overall taking shortcuts that no one ever even dreamed were there, the trio managed to burst through the door with the bomb ticking at a mile a minute.

Sonic delivered a swift kick to the iron ball, sending it far into the air. With a blinding burst of light, the bomb exploding, and another one of the World Rings rolled to a stop at Sonic's feet.

"Huh? Hey look at this." A gloved hand reached down for the ring.

"Is that what I think it is?" Shahra asked carefully, moving a bit closer.

"Yep. Another one of the Seven World Rings." Sonic held it out for Aly to see. _I guess it was inside the Ifrit this whole time,_ she was thinking when suddenly it was consumed with sparks. She jumped back, emitting a soundless yelp.

"I feel…rage. All that rage must have been sealed up inside of him," Sonic observed through gritted teeth. "All these rings must seal up emotions too! The power of rage…" he trailed off, seeing the forlorn look on Shahra's face.

"So then, what's next?" He asked the genie, hoping to get her mind off of whatever was bugging her.

"Let's go meet with King Solomon!" She replied almost immediately, snapping out of her mood. "King Solomon is the one who sealed away the evil spirits long ago. These strange occurrences must connect back to him somehow."

"Is Aly's last soul piece anywhere near there?" He glanced at the other hedgehog, who seemed to grow increasingly agitated by her lack of speech every passing moment.

"Hm…well…ah…I can't…seem to find it…" A look of utter confusion crossed the pink-haired genie's features. "I'm so sorry, Master!" She added upon impulse, afraid he might anger with her as so many of her past Masters had.

"Hey, don't sweat it!" Sonic reassured her, even though deep down he was rather worried himself. "I'm sure she'll show up. Don't worry, Aly. We'll get you back together!" The addressed hedgehog simply nodded, feeling a bit downtrodden herself upon learning she would be stuck a mute for a while yet.

"Okay then, King Solomon, right? Lead the way, Shahra! Off to our next adventure!" The genie nodded in response and took off through the sands. Sonic gave her a bit of a head start, since he was itching to run at his unrivaled speed, and he also felt the need to comfort the smaller female hedgehog.

"Hey, don't worry! We'll get you back together soon. I promise! We won't leave this place until your soul is completely repaired!"

The addressed looked up into his emerald eyes with hope and a hint of sadness. Sonic gave her a small smile and a short kiss, and then gestured off in the direction of the retreated genie. "But for now, we've got an appointment with this king! And Shahra seems eager to keep it."

A nod was her only response, and the two took off at a comfortable pace after the genie, hand in hand as they raced across the golden sands, the setting sun shining on their backs.

**X-X-X**

**Yaaay I finally updated guys! *gets brick'd for being a lazyass.***

**Yeah okay I'm sorry :( I had writer's block a TON recently, but I finally just sucked it up and started writing! Replaying the scene with the Ifrit Golem helped a whole lot, too. I realized I desperately needed to play a few times when I noticed that my writing wasn't consistent with the way the actual fight went. Anyways…**

***gets brick'd again* Yeah, yeah, I know that was a horrible thing to say. "LET'S BLAST OFF AT SONIC SPEED!" Oh god. Someone shoot me. I can't believe I put that in my fic. **

**So, how's my humor? I've been trying to work on that a bit. In real life I really DO have a sense of humor, it's just…I never have it when I want it. So hopefully this chapter has shown some improvement.**

**Lastly…I highly doubt you all want to hear this but…school starts tomorrow. That's HIGH SCHOOL for me. 10****th**** grade, and my schedule is literally packed. On top of that, my mom's taking away all electronics during the week to "make sure I study well and keep up." -_- Yeah. Because I totally can't do that myself, right?**

**Anyways, this will probably be the last update for a while on any of my fics. I'm still working on revising my Zelda fic. I'm somewhere around the 4****th**** or 5****th**** chapter, so I'm halfway through. No changes will be posted until the entire fic has been redone and the newest chapter finished, simply because I did make some tweaks to the plot. Nothing major.**

**And FINALLY, remember to check my DeviantART page for update information, and check my profile to links to my DA page and my two new FictionPress pages! (one is for T rating and under stuff, and the other is for M rated works.)**

**Sorry for the long wait and almost equally long Author's note! I will try to be a bit more efficient with this fic! But keep in mind it's a long sucker, and it takes me a while…I'm sorry!**

**Good luck on your first day of school, everyone!**

**~SoulPieces is out!~**


	17. The Skeletal King

**Hello, my loyal readers :) I'm so sorry about the lack of updates. I just...I got tired of the game for a little while. But, I finally decided I really needed to work on this story, since I haven't done so in a long time. So, without further ado, please enjoy chapter 14 :) I'm sorry if I'm a little rusty. And I promise the next update won't take so long!**

* * *

**Chapter 14—The Skeletal King**

_Oh god…that's a lot of bones…_

Aly stopped abruptly outside the appropriately-named Skeleton Dome, petrified by all the bones. Enormous skeletons of long-dead unknown creatures lay littered across the wasteland. Some strange white powder was falling from the sky. Upon closer inspection, she realized it was…

"Ash?" Sonic questioned, pinching a small sample up from the ground and rubbing it between two gloved fingers. "Or is it maybe the dust of all these old bones?" He looked up at the trembling hedgehog standing a few feet away from him. "Hey, you okay?"

She shook her head, visibly shaking. She glanced around the place nervously, eying every crevice, eyes flickering to every moving shadow.

"What, you scared?" Sonic taunted. "Come on. It's just a bunch of bones. Nothing to be scared about!" He patted her on the back a little roughly. "Let's get moving!"

At first she figured she would just wait outside the fortress. But as she watched the retreating figure of her blue love, the shadows around her began to become more animated…and seemed to be moving closer. The howling of the wind passing through skulls pushed her over the edge, and she took off running after the Blue Blur. He couldn't help but smirk as he noticed the sudden tight grip on his arm.

"Nothing to be worried about!" He repeated. She replied with an expression that was a cross between "I'm terrified" and "Shut up before I kill you." He gave her his trademark smile before turning his attention back to the bone-filled path before them.

**X-X-X**

Despite all the jokes and reassuring statements towards the golden hedgehog, Sonic had to admit the place gave him the creeps. As they ran through the ash-filled bone yard, occasionally taking out stray djinns, his unease grew and grew with each passing skeleton.

Another glance to his side told him that his companion's unease matched his. After having raced her "fear" soul piece, he couldn't help but look at her differently. Was she always so afraid, but just held it all in? Or was that just that piece's enhanced emotions? He wasn't sure, and he had no way of asking her. He decided he needed to keep her focus off of any fears she did have, though.

"Hey Aly, let's work on your homing attacks! You can use the skeletons as targets!"

Okay, maybe not the best way for him to get her mind off of their morbid surroundings, but she seemed thankful even for this little distraction and offered up a small smile.

She figured that homing attacks were just like her usual way of jumping off walls, only you couldn't exactly see where you were going. It required more thinking than actual doing, which she thought was an interesting challenge. She'd always had somewhat of an analytical mind, so this homing stuff seemed just up her alley.

Of course, just because she had the mind for it didn't mean she didn't mess up embarrassingly at times. She found herself hitting her targets sooner than expected (and therefore catching her off guard), or missing them all together and smacking into an ash drift or something. Frustrated, this pushed her to keep going, even when Sonic suggested she stop for a bit.

The deeper into the skeletal valley they went, the bigger the skeletons got, Aly noticed with dismay. Soon, they were passing skeletons that were positively _enormous_. They had to be the size of a 2 or 2 story building!

"These are…huge!" Shahra exclaimed with great wonder and little fear. "There must be something up there!"

Sadly, this did not help the younger hedgehog's fears out at all. She gradually stopped her practice and decided to hang closer to her blue hero, just in case. The djinns that decided to randomly appear in front of them with little to no warning didn't exactly help the atmosphere any, either

They entered a large domed arena that was lined by more huge skeletons of ancient, scary-looking creatures. On the other end of the large area, they entered into a dungeon-like cave, complete with the iron grate doors and djinn guards. They had to run over motion-sensitive switches embedded into the floor in order to open each iron grate.

At the end of the long hall, they came out into an enormous hall. Both hedgehogs screeched to a halt at the sight before them.

A narrow stone walkway winded through the large cavern, snaking around more skeletons and rock formations. The bottom of the cavern was filled with dark water, impossible to see the bottom. The two hedgehogs glanced at each other nervously.

"You need to be careful," Shahra warned. "The water below us is almost freezing, to fall in would be to die."

**X-X-X**

As easy as it would seem to cross a stone path that was easily as wide as the two hedgehogs, it proved to be a very big challenge. Often times, the stones beneath them would crumble and fall down into the icy depth of the cave's lake. More than once either hedgehog found themselves precariously hanging over the edge of the pathway or narrowly missing a falling stalactite.

Possibly the worst part of the cavern, in Aly's opinion, was the floating red skulls that they used in order to jump across large gaps in the pathway. As she struck each one with a homing attack, she could have sworn she heard maniacal laughter as the skull shattered beneath her.

Finally though the two hedgehogs made it to the other side of the large cavern, which presented a new tunnel for them to run down. Thankful to have solid ground beneath her feet, Aly began to feel slightly more relaxed and better focused on the path ahead of them. Her trembling calmed down as she sliced through the djinns that seemed to get more and more plentiful the deeper into the graveyard they traveled.

However, her unease returned quickly with reinforcements when she noticed some _animated_ skeletons wielding sabers heading for them. She panicked and began throwing punches, knocking their skulls right off their spinal cords, which caused them to dissipate in no time at all. To make matters worse, she observed a spinal chord in the ceiling above her…which meant this tunnel's structure was made up of a large dead creature's skeleton. She began to feel lightheaded and felt as though she would pass out, but she forced herself to keep running beside her blue blur.

The tunnel continued to get worse and worse. Now, they were dodging swinging pendulums as they swung from the skeletal ceiling. The further they got, the more dungeon-like the cavern seemed to become. They even began to notice sapient and human skeletons chained to the walls of the dungeon, their features long lost to time's decay.

Finally, they left the tunnels and came out into the actual palace part of the Skeleton Dome. There were many skeletal djinns who guarded the halls with dual sabers, but they were no match for the duo. They tore through each mass of skeletons with grace and somewhat ease, now that Aly was getting the hang of homing attacks; although she still had quite a few run-ins with walls. She found her fists and feet to be more useful in a pinch, anyways.

They traveled through the palace with the help of strange-shaped teleporting pads that sent them to different rooms. At first the teleporting pads were intimidating since they too were made from bones, but with Shahra's help, Sonic was able to convince Aly that everything was okay and she could go through the portals safely.

_Finally,_ the hedgehog/genie team found the throne room. "King Solomon should be at the end of this room!" Shahra exclaimed with relief.

"I'd almost rather it be deserted, at this point…" Sonic replied despondently as he gazed at the army of skeletal and regular djinns before them. Sighing something about never getting any breaks, he tore off through the mass of enemies, hoping that soon they'd reach the end of the massive room.

Upon clearing the room of the evil spirits, they approached the throne. On the throne sat….a skeletal head of what seemed to be a dog at one time.

_MORE skeletons?_ Aly groaned inwardly.

Sonic looked appalled. "Uh…it looks like we might be a little late…"

* * *

**Yeah...great cliffie. I know. *sarcasm***

**Next chapter will hopefully be up in less time than it took this one!**


	18. Stupid  Freaking  Thieves

**I felt a little bad that I hadn't updated in so long, and Idalia's review encouraged me even more to add another chapter. This one is also a bit longer, to make up for the fact that chapter 14 was shorter than I anticipated.**

**Enjoy :)**

**Chapter 15—Stupid. Freaking. Thieves.**

Shahra, Sonic, and Aly all looked sadly down at the skull of what used to be King Solomon, resting in his red throne.

"Uh…it looks like we might be a little late…" Sonic spoke aloud.

"**I should say so!"** Boomed the skull as it levitated out of the chair towards the trio. Aly let out a silent scream and fell over backwards.

"Whoa!" Even Sonic took a step back in disbelief.

Shahra raised a dainty hand to her mouth. "King…King Solomon?" She inquired, recognizing the voice of the once-great ruler.

"Indeed!" The floating skull confirmed. "I am the great and powerful King Solomon!" He announced with regality.

Sonic, having got over his surprise, couldn't hold back a chuckle. "If you say so…" he taunted as he reached down to help up his golden friend.

The skull glared daggers at him. "Don't think I'm happy looking this way either!" He scolded the blue blur. "The Erazor Djinn did this to me…He resurrected the 40 Thieves as evil spirits and sent them to attack me here," he added with remorse.

"And that's how you ended up…like that?" Shahra asked carefully.

"Precisely, my dear," he turned to her. Then, he acknowledged their third member for the first time. "And who are you?"

She simply stared back at him helplessly. Sonic spoke for her. "This is Aly. The Erazor has messed with her, too. He split her soul into 5 pieces and scattered them throughout this world. Each one took emotions, senses, and her ability to do something related to that sense. We have four of the five pieces by now, all we need left is the one that lets her talk. But…Shahra can't locate that piece anywhere."

"Hm…I see…" the king "Well…seems like you and I have a little on common, don't we?" A hint of care was in his voice. Clearing his throat, he turned back to Sonic. "And that being the case, could I ask you a favor? Might I beseech you to track down the rest of my body? I'd also be grateful if you could do something about the 40 Thieves, as well."

"Hah! No problem!" Sonic replied with his trademark cocky attitude. He turned on his heel and got ready to race off, but then glanced at Aly, who seemed not so eager about going to face 40 thieves who stole a king's body. "Uh…Aly, would you rather stay here, with the King?" He asked her.

Her ears sprung up in obvious relief, but she tried to hide it.

"Really, if you want to, it's okay. I can take care of these things by myself, if you'd rather stay here. I know this place is scaring you. I'm certain the King wouldn't mind some company."

"Well, the company of a pretty young lady is always enjoyable, even if she's a little quiet," he smiled down at her. She tried her best to return with a halfway genuine smile, although the fact she was talking to a floating skull still put her at unease.

_Well, it's between 40 evil thieving spirits, or one wise old king's skull. He seems pretty personable, at least._

Finally, she pointed at Solomon and nodded, indicating she'd rather stay. Sonic gave her a smile. "Alright you two, don't worry about getting too comfortable. I'll be back in a blink!" He called over his shoulder as he ran back out of the throne room.

**X-X-X**

"Wow!" Shahra exclaimed. "This place is huge!"

"Heh, so this is why they call it the Skeleton Dome," Sonic remarked. He observed that the thieves were spread out so that he could easily take them out in 2 goes: the first one to hit 5 switches that would revive the skeletal djinns, and the second one to take them out. They were also _all_ in this room, which only had two doors: the door to the throne room, and the door out, which was blocked off by an iron grate.

"Good," Sonic said to himself. "I can fight these things AND make sure nothing gets in there to harm Aly….or the king," he added as an afterthought.

He charged into the room straight into a group of normal djinns. Each one was easily dispatched with a hit from diamond-hard quills in the form of a homing attack, which he executed quickly in succession. He had to watch out for swinging pendulums, spike traps, and oversized spiked balls, which were embedded into the ground in several inconvenient places as he made his way around the cavernous room, knocking over switches that seemed to be made of small bones. Each one had a different number of bones on it between 1 and 5, indicating in what order to hit them.

"This is a piece of cake!" He said to himself as he took down thief after thief. "I'll have this done in no time!"

**X-X-X**

"So, would you maybe enjoy a story, while we wait for your blue friend?" The skull had taken rest back on his throne, in front of which Aly now sat cross-legged, fixing her hair into a low ponytail. She glanced up at him and nodded, her fears of the disembodied head fading.

"Well let's see…ah, here's one about a Jinnee who thought he was of great importance and wisdom with whom I had a run-in a long time ago. This is also another tale in the One Thousand and One Nights.*

"Many Jinnees were once all under my reign, a long, long time ago. However, not very many were happy about that, as one might guess. There was a rebellion led against me. Thankfully, I and my loyal followers were able to suppress it.

"There was one Jinnee in particular who was defeated by my own Vizier. He refused to pledge allegiance to me, even when all was hopeless! I was so enraged by him that I sealed him away in a bottle with my seal to close it. Then, I cast that rotten Jinnee into the sea! I thought for sure he would remain there forever. He was trapped there for two hundred years! I thought I had really done a good deed this time.

"Well, two hundred years later, a lowly fisherman came along a shore and cast his net out into the sea. Upon first pulling it out, he pulled out a dead donkey—" Aly cringed at this "—which he tossed to the side. Then he cast his net out again. This time, he came up with a jar full of sand. He cast his net out once more, this time to pull up broken pottery. By now this poor fellow was frustrated beyond belief. He cried out to Allah for help and cast out his net the fourth and final time. This time, he pulled up an ornate jar, the same jar that I cast out two hundred years before. It was a beautiful copper jar, and the man rejoiced that now he could sell it at the market for good price.

"Now this would have all been great, but he was just too curious about what was sealed inside. So he took his knife and broke my seal, releasing the Jinnee. The Jinnee was very enraged and thought I had come to kill him. The fisherman was able to convince him that I was not around; rather that he had freed him. He cowered in fear of this Ifrit, although he had nothing to worry about. This abomination didn't have the brain of a normal djinn!

"The Jinnee explained that he was so enraged at being sealed away that he vowed he would kill the next person who freed him. Try as he might, the old fisherman could not convince the Jinnee to spare his life. 'I am sworn under oath!' The Jinnee claimed. 'I will let you choose your death!'"

By this time, Aly's focus was completely on the old king. She was so completely absorbed in the story that she didn't notice the newcomer in the throne room.** She had closed her eyes and let her imagination take over, seeing instead an old man cowering in fear in front of a genie who looked a lot like the Erazor, pleading for his life in front of the enormous entity.

"Finally seeing that his efforts were pointless, the old man resorted to trickery. He looked down at the jar. 'I'm not quite sure that I believe you fit in this jar!' he said to the Jinnee. 'I would have to see it for myself! Surely a magical, powerful being of your stature couldn't possibly fit into such a small container!' he taunted the Jinnee.

"Indignant, and true to typical Jinnee nature, he scowled at the man. 'Of course I can fit in there, you old fool! I will show you!' And with that, he turned himself into a cloud of smoke and dove straight into the jar, which the old fisherman resealed with my seal. He then proceeded down the bank, the Jinnee pleading with him to be released. He promised him anything he wanted, but this time the fisherman would not relent. 'No, Jinnee, you had your chance!' he told him. 'Now you are going back out to sea, where you belong!'

"There is more to the story, but I think you'll have to read the rest for yourself," the king finished, breaking her out of her spell. She looked a little disappointed but understanding. She smiled and nodded at the king, who let out a haughty laugh.

"Might I take that as a thank you?"

She nodded again.

"Well good. I'm glad you enjoyed it. And once you and your friend save this world, you can read the entire book, if you so wish." She gave the king a thumbs up and nodded vigorously. _I love reading!_ She wished she could have easier conversation with the king. He seemed so wise, she knew she could learn so much from him.

_Aly…there's someone here,_ a male voice suddenly spoke inside her head. She recognized Will's voice almost immediately, and went on high alert. He wouldn't warn her if it weren't something bad. She glanced worriedly around the room, looking mostly for the Erazor.

"Ah…look who we have here," the king noticed their new visitor finally. He stepped out of the darkened shadows in which he had been hiding.

"I haven't come to bother with you, King. I've come for her," the stranger pointed towards Aly. Without warning, he charged forward, grabbed her, and took off out the palace window before she could even register what was going on.

"Sonic! Sonic! Get back here! She's been taken!" The disembodied king called for the hero, who had already been headed in that direction.

"Where is she?" Sonic ran frantically around the bare throne room. "**No!**" He cast an angry glance at the king, whose body was being reformed. "How could you let them take her?"

"Sonic!" Shahra tried to calm the enraged hedgehog. "It's not his fault! He did what he could, which was call out to you. We can't do anything now. We'll get her back unharmed, but not if you're going to panic!" she scolded him. She placed a caring hand on his shoulder as he fell to his knees in front of the throne, his head bowed in defeat. "We'll get her back," Shahra reassured him. "I can always find her. I'm closely linked enough with her that it isn't too hard for me to do."

Sonic took in a few deep breaths before allowing himself to calm down. He finally looked up towards her. "Yes," he agreed. "We will get her back. And whoever took her from me will pay," he said with a grave voice.

The king, having regained his body, cleared his throat. "Possibly this is a bad time. But if you want to know more about the evil spirits that now haunt this world, I can provide you with some information. Maybe it won't help you directly get back your friend, but it will at least help you to be rid of the Erazor, which would enable you to concentrate on regaining her into your possession."

Sonic took in another deep breath. "…Okay. I'll listen."***

_I'll get you back, Aly. And you __**will**__ be unharmed._

**X-X-X**

**Another cliffy ;D Just a few notes here,**

***Okay so this story was actually supposed to be set 200 years after King Solomon's death. But, since he is a skeleton in the game, I figured he was immortal. *shrugs* it fits, ya know. The name of this story is "The Fisherman and the Jinnee," if you want to look up the rest of the story.**

********I didn't plan on any part of this story from this point on. xD I just had an idea and decided to run with it. Looking ahead towards the ending of this thing, I think it actually fits a whole lot better than what I planned for. I'd say why but I'd rather not spoil anymore ;)**

*****Aaaannnddd I just noticed I left out the cutscene for the white world ring. I'm just going to...skip it. xD Since this chapter was mostly with Aly and Solomon I think we can infer that finding the ring occurred while he was telling the story. Use your imagination, I don't think I skipped anything important there anyways.**

**Alright folks, next time in Seven Rings in Hand, we hear Solomon's knowledge of the Erazor and his genie minions! We also find out who this mysterious character is who took off with Aly! (something _I _don't even know yet...)**


	19. Friend or Foe

**Chapter 16—Friend or Foe**

_Who does this creep think he is?_ Aly thought to herself as her kidnapper glided across the sands, moving at speeds that rivaled Sonic's. _I just want to talk again!_

Her kidnapper had scooped her up bridal style shortly after exiting the bone-filled lands, taking off at incredible speeds using some hoverskates that were definitely not from this time period. Despite that piece of modern technology, he was otherwise dressed in Arabian clothing. He wore baggy beige pants low on his hips, a long sleeved shirt about the same color, and a white turban that covered up any features. All that she could see was ruby eyes surrounded by black; she wasn't sure if that was a shadow or if that was his fur color. She wasn't even sure if he was human…

"Stop your worrying," his rough voice reached her ears. She flicked them nervously. _How did he..?_

"I'm not out to hurt you," he spoke again. "I just need you for something. So just quit worrying. I'll return you to that blue loser eventually," he growled. "So just sit tight. I might actually be helping you here."

She sighed and curled up slightly in his arms. She might as well go to sleep. He didn't seem like he would be stopping any time soon.

"Oh, and by the way, my name is Shadow."

**X-X-X**

"…and many such spirits were driven to madness. It is my fault that they became the minions of the Erazor Djinn. However, by carving up the words that make up our world, new spirits have also appeared. His power is nearly godlike." The Skeletal King, whose body was now completely reformed, told his small audience.

"Godlike, huh…? Well, that's a problem, then." Sonic said somewhat thoughtfully.

"Even so," added Solomon, "supernatural beings like the Erazor Djinn always have weak points that are told of in stories."

"Huh?" Sonic questioned as Shahra gasped softly behind him, unnoticed.

"In truth, he is the Genie of the Lamp," Solomon explained. "Somehow though, he has escaped. If we had the lamp he belongs to, it could be possible to seal him away again…forever."

"Lamp, huh?" The blue hedgehog tapped his chin thoughtfully as the King continued on.

"Hmm…there is one problem though. Returning the stories to their original state requires greater power than we have. It would take a miracle," the king said almost mournfully.

"Leave it to me, that's why I'm here, after all!" Sonic proclaimed proudly, his earlier tantrum over the king losing Aly seeming to have been forgotten.

"I see," mused the king. "So, then you are the legendary blue hedgehog…a great curse has been placed upon you. I can see it in your eyes, the grim fate that awaits you." _Ah, crap…_

"H-hey, quit starin'! You're giving me the creeps," Sonic tried to shake off the king's intense stare and his warning.

"Hm…I am a bit hesitant to put this on you, but…I will tell you this. You can find the Erazor Djinn in his palace, up in the sky. Show me that your part of this legend can come true."

"Thanks…now it's time to make a legend for myself then," Sonic was eager to get out of the palace, defeat the Erazor, and find the low life who kidnapped his girl.

"Hold the White World Ring up to the gates, and they will open," Solomon continued speaking. Sonic had already turned to take off out of the dome.

"Okay! Thanks for your help!" Sonic called over his shoulder, taking off down the hallway and disappearing from sight in no time.

"…I sense death approaching…" the king mumbled quietly to himself. "But…for which one…?"

**X-X-X**

"Hey. We're here," a gruff voice awoke Aly from her deep sleep. She opened her eyes to see a dark sky, wind whipping around her and her kidnapper.

_What was his name? Oh right, Shadow._

It was night time. A huge full moon rested behind them. All around her she saw desert sands with a bit of brush here and there. The night sky was dotted with millions of beautiful stars. She turned her head to see what he was facing. A huge castle loomed out of the flat landscape. It had, as with everything else in this world, an Arabic charm to it. There were many turrets like what you would expect to see on the Taj Mahal back in her world. The entire place was lit up. It was also floating on a piece of land broken off from the ground.

She could _feel_ the Erazor's presence in that castle. She saw the thousands of Genies pouring out of its doors. She knew he was there. Somewhere. Shadow had lied. He was leading her to her death.

She fought desperately to free herself from his grip. _Let me go!_ She wanted to scream. Shocked at her sudden movements, the male dropped her and she hit the ground running. She took off over the barren landscape, hoping desperately that she was faster than his hoverskates.

She felt a hand grab her roughly by the arm and yank her to a halt. Her shoulder popped loudly as she was yanked backwards into her captor's arms.

_Tough luck…_ she thought sadly.

"Why are you running! I said I would help you! Stop your running! What's wrong with you?"

She ignored him and struggled desperately. _Please let me go…_

"I'm not taking you to the Erazor," he growled in her ear. She pinned her ear flat, uncomfortable with his closeness. "There's something in there that I think belongs to you, now calm down for five seconds and we'll get it back to you!"

She sighed and walked with him as he continued to pull on her arm, trying to ignore the pain shooting through it. She knew she'd dislocated it and would have to put it back in place.

_Ugh. What is so wrong with me having a chance at a peaceful life? Seriously…_

"Keep quiet, follow me, and don't get behind," Shadow broke her short line of thoughts. She focused on him and realized they were right outside the wall to the castle. "I can get in easily. I don't know about you." He launched himself up onto the land above them with grace, then stood waiting for her to follow suit. She managed to match his grace and accuracy, not even faltering when she landed. "Good. This will be easy then. This way."

Shadow and Aly made their way across to one of the towers on the far side. Aly stared up at the huge construction with awe. She couldn't help it. Despite belonging to a genie gone bad, it was a beautiful place. Although she couldn't tell for sure in the dim-lit night, it appeared to be painted white with gold turrets on top. The castle reached far into the heavens, a few clouds obscuring the top from view.

Of course the Erazor would want something this magnificent. He seemed to think himself as something of a deity.

Aly knew Sonic and Shahra would knock him back into his place.

"Up there," Shadow pointed to a window far from the ground, "is our goal. Can you wall jump pretty well?"

She nodded confidently. _Of course I can!_

Shadow nodded back and took off up the side of the building, using his hoverskates to push him higher as he bounced between two towers, finally disappearing into the window he had pointed out to the blonde hedgehog. She sighed and gathered her courage, then took off wall jumping all the way up. It took her a considerable more amount of time to make it up, as she didn't have the benefit of hoverskates. However, she eventually launched herself through the window, greeted with the sight of Shadow standing there looking very, _very_ annoyed, along with…

"OHMIGOD SHADOW YOU CAME BACK FOR MEEE! I LOVE YOU SO MUCH!"

…a ghost-like reflection of herself was clung tightly to his waist. Shadow looked about ready to bust her head in. His eyes were shut tight and Aly could visibly see his teeth were clenched.

"Get. Off. Of. Me," growled the strange kidnapper. He forced his eyes to open and he looked towards Aly. "Does this belong to you?"

She nodded vigorously.

"**THEN TAKE IT BACK!**" He exploded, a blast of strange energy sending both her and her soul piece flying backwards. His eyes, now open, were flaming red; even more so than it usually was. Aly stood in front of him, stunned and trembling at the sudden outburst.

Her soul piece, however, was not terrified at all. It turned to the girl, chattering excitedly.

"This _cute _hedgehog saved me from Erazor's jail! Then I told him he had to race me if he wanted me out of there he'd have to race me, and he did! So now I'm safe! And look at him, he's SO cute!" The piece began to fade into a ball of light. "Oh no! No I don't want to leave him just yet!"

The ball, slightly unwillingly, disappeared into Aly, who still stood there somewhat stunned. She felt something within her snap together, and she was engulfed in a blinding light herself. Shadow had to shield his eyes as the light saturated the entire room. When it finally faded, Aly was standing right where she was before, her mouth wide open as she realized she was finally, _finally_ complete.

She looked over at her savior, who was removing his turban. Doing so also freed his quills, which revealed that he was, in fact, a hedgehog. He was midnight black all over, except for some red highlights she could see in his quills, and a white tuft of hair that was poking out from the top of his shirt. He tossed his turban aside and noticed the girl starting at him. "Oh Chaos... What?"

"THANK YOU SO MUCH!" She assaulted the hedgehog with a hug. Oh, how great it felt to talk again!

"Wh-what the? Get off of me!" He managed to free himself from the younger girl's grip. "What's up with this anyways?" He questioned angrily.

"Oh, I guess you have no clue what's going on, do you?" She questioned as she pulled back from him.

"No. I have NO idea what's going on or why I'm here. All I know is that I was _trying_ to Chaos control back to my home last week, and suddenly I wound up _here._ That stupid…Djinn thing thought I would be 'useful' to him as a 'pet' of some sort; do all his dirty work for him and destroy this world while he sits back and gains power. I'm not stupid," he growled, his voice carrying great anger. "I did some running to gain his trust, but I didn't do anything that couldn't be fixed by you and that…faker," he spat out the last word.

"What do you mean, faker?" Aly interrupted him.

"The blue one. Sonic."

"You call him 'faker'?"

"Yes. People mistake us for one another. He's faking like he's me."

"Um…" Aly started to protest, but the look in Shadow's eyes seemed to say, "keep quiet and maybe you'll live."

"Anyways. Now that I've gained his trust I'm able to find out just what he's doing and I got to manage his little prison. That's where I found…that…thing that was clinging to me. She said she was a piece of 'Aly's' soul and I had to race her if I wanted her to go anywhere with me. She had some kind of curse or something on her," he explained. "I assumed you were Aly, and so I raced her in order to keep her under my watch and possibly return her. I didn't realize she would be…lovestruck by anything that came within 50 feet of her. I suppose that's why she was stupid enough to get thrown in his jail."

Aly blushed at this. "Well, that's stupid. See, here's how all this happened…"


	20. Enter the Palace

**Heeeyyy looky there, I didn't wait for 3 months before adding another chapter :) Even though this one is kinda short...**

**So, it looks like this FanFiction is coming to a close. It's been a great run (lol punny), but I'm personally glad to almost be finished. I believe there will be two or three more chapters after this one, and then maybe an epilogue.**

**I hope you all enjoy. Drop a review! And if you're looking for another Sonic FanFic to read while you're waiting for updates on this one, I've got a new one up called Secrets and Regrets. It's a different challenge for me. I'd appreciate it if y'all would check it out and tell me how well I'm doing XD**

**Without further ado….**

* * *

**Chapter 17—Enter the Palace**

Sonic whistled as he observed the castle around them.

The night was clear. Stars shone high above the towers of the castle. The full moon illuminated what the torches covering the walls could not. The inside of the palace seemed to be all white marble that faintly reflected Sonic's blue coloring. On the outside, the palace seemed to almost be a purple color, complimented greatly by the golden glow of the torches. Ornate patterns stood out from the otherwise plain looking marble on every floor. Every door towered far higher than any creature could ever need it to be. Large balconies were framed by low marble barriers that just completed the Arabic look.

The castle seemed to be the perfect playground for our blue hero, who was currently running up the sides of the walls to get from balcony to balcony, while dodging huge spiked balls that fell down just about every flight of stairs.

"So, this is where the Erazor is?" he asked the genie who flew swiftly beside him. She nodded.

"Well, looks like we have a lot of ground to cover. Not that I mind," he added with a grin. Every room was wide open. Even the hallways were wide and long. Sonic felt liberated as the wind rushed through his quills.

A few djinns in his way were easily dispatched. "Now is the time we most need to stay on guard," Shahra warned him as he began to get a dazed look in his eyes.

In the back of his mind sat a great sadness at the loss of his lighter-colored counterpart. Shahra had immediately detected her presence somewhere nearby in the large palace, which was of some consolation to the speedster, but he still felt heavy hearted.

_The Erazor probably has her… _the thought repeated over and over in his mind. Was he using her as bait? Or was he splitting her soul apart, for good this time?

The latter thought pushed him to run faster, breaking the sound barrier easily. The huge boom echoed around the dark room he was currently running through.

Suddenly, he was shaken out of his thoughts when he realized he'd dove straight off a balcony, with only darkness below him. The ground was too far below to see in the dim light.

"Sonic!" Shahra yelled in frustration, immediately placing a flying carpet beneath his feet.

He laughed and shook it off. "This just keeps getting better and better!" he exclaimed as he held tight to the carpet. "Check out this view, Shahra!"

"Sonic, this is no time for sightseeing!" the pink genie reprimanded him as he flew precariously close to some cursed spiked balls that floated across their path.

Soon he was off on the other side of the palace, running through yet another large white room.

"Have you noticed the lack of furniture in this palace? I guess he didn't have enough money to furnish it after building this place!"

Shahra rolled her eyes. "Somehow I do not think that he purchased this palace, nor did he care too much about whether or not it was furnished…"

"The Erazor must be in there!" he cut her off, indicating the door he had almost reached. But suddenly, the door was getting much further away.

"Whoa! What the…"

"The hallway stretched!" Shahra eagerly pointed out the obvious. Three collapsed gates materialized in their paths, each with a swirling purple portal in front of them.

"Uh…" Sonic didn't even bother to slow, diving headfirst into the portal.

They came out in a place that was literally covered with stars. Beneath Sonic's feet was a glass pathway that stretched off into the distance.

"Where could this be…?" Shahra mused. However, her blue companion didn't hear her, instead choosing to continue streaking through the place.

"Are we really inside the palace—incoming!" he cut off, sliding to the side as a huge spear that seemed to come from no where shattered the path beside him without any trouble at all.

"Watch out! The path is splitting too!"

Sonic rolled his eyes and easily dashed past the deadly spears, finally reaching the end of the path and screeching to a halt in front of a large hourglass.

Shahra reached out to touch it. "There's something about this hour glass…"

"A switch, maybe?" He kicked the bottom of the hourglass and it flipped upwards, sending them back into the outstretched hall. The gate in front of them was fixed, allowing them to continue.

Before Shahra could point out the obviously repaired gate, Sonic was through the next portal and already tearing down a path similar to the one they had just left.

True to the previous path, there was another hourglass switch, which fixed the second gate. The third portal followed true to the other two.

"Well," he said as he reached the end of the hallway. "That was unoriginal. But that seems to be Erazor's style, so I guess I won't complain. I get out of here faster that way!"

As they departed from the hallway, Shahra stopped Sonic.

"It's Aly…I sense her in there, as well as the Erazor Djinn."

**X-X-X**

"So…you actually want to go after the guy who split you into pieces…" Shadow asked Aly slowly when she requested he take her to him.

"Well…yes. I mean, Sonic's supposed to be looking for him as well, and I kinda would like to be reunited with him…" she blushed softly.

Shadow rolled his eyes. "Please don't tell me you're going to be another Amy Rose…" he growled. "She's Sonic's number one fangirl, I guess. She stalks him everywhere and tries to make him be her boyfriend," he added when she gave him a confused look.

Jealousy flashed in her eyes. "Well, he's mine," she growled. "And I didn't force him to be either."

He scoffed. "There's a new one. …Alright. I'll take you there. But if faker's hanging around, I'm dropping you and leaving. I can't stand him."

Aly's jade eyes lit up. "Thank you! Thank you so much!" A startled grunt came from addressed hedgehog as he was suddenly sent falling to the ground, caught up in a tight hug.

"You try to seem all bad, but you're really a great help and I really appreciate it. You're a great ally and a great friend," she smiled at him after finally releasing him.

Shadow rolled his eyes, blushing slightly. It had been a long time since someone had actually called him "helpful." Or even a friend, for that matter. "Whatever. Let's get moving," he growled.

The nearly opposite-colored hedgehogs took off into the night, bounding from roof to roof with effortless leaps. Unbeknownst to them, following the same path below was the Blue Blur himself.

4


	21. What a Wonderful Reunion

**Chapter 18—What a Wonderful Reunion…**

"_Are you crazy?! You can't shoot a magical genie!" _Aly's voice cut through the silence that had followed the gunshot.

The midnight hedgehog and the genie were locked in a stand-off on opposite ends of an extremely long balcony that was no more than six feet wide. The full moon provided the only light. Far below them, the ground was hidden by the black of the night.

The Erazor stood before her and Shadow, laughing as the bullet reflected off him as if it were a ball thrown by a toddler. Shadow stood his ground in front of her, face frozen in a glare, still pointing the smoking gun at the pink genie. She cowered behind him, remembering the awful splitting feeling she had felt when he ripped her soul from her the first time.

Erazor Djinn laughed thunderously. "You puny rat, I offered you safety and a place to rule this world beside me as long as you cooperated! All you rodents seem to be the same way. So be it…you must now face my wrath!"

He summoned up a huge switch blade with a curved end, making it appear to be a slight "S" shape when drawn out. He swiped it a few times experimentally in front of him. Moonlight reflected off the golden blade. He glared down at Aly. "Are you prepared to lose your soul permanently this time?"

She whimpered and cowered behind Shadow.

"I'm not afraid of you. I've fought against an alien demon from Hell itself in space for the fate of my planet _and won_, certainly I can best a _pink_ fluffball such as yourself. I am the Ultimate Lifeform!"

Despite her fear, Aly raised her eyebrows. No doubt, this midnight hedgehog was a very strange individual, and definitely not very humble.

"Hey, you can't start this party without me!"

Aly spun around to see the famous blue blur busting into the hallway, Shahra close behind.

"Oh great. It's the faker," Shadow grumbled, rolling his eyes. "I can handle this myself, thanks!"

The blonde hedgehog ran up to the hero she had become separated from. He smiled wide and pulled her into a quick hug. "You're safe!"

"Ah… It's the blue rat again," the Erazor spat.

Sonic shifted his female friend behind him and glared up at the genie. "Hey! Looks like I'm running a bit low, here!" he pointed to the flame on his chest. "Think you could top me off?"

Shadow, now lowering his gun, glanced at Sonic to figure out justwhat his doppelganger was talking about _this time._ When he caught sight of the flame, his mouth dropped open. "F-faker….You're on fire!"

The addressed hedgehog grinned. "Yeah, I am pretty hot, aren't I?"

"That's not what I meant…" he growled dangerously.

"I have no time for this. Have you brought the seven World Rings?" the genie broke apart their banter.

"Well, you see… You should really just look for them yourself!" the blue blur admonished.

"We're not your personal delivery service," Aly chimed in.

"Very well," he sneered. "I'll carve you to pieces until I find every last one!"

"Is that so?" Shadow challenged.

"Let's see you try!" Sonic shouted, charging at the genie alongside his friend and rival. With the hover skates, Shadow's speed rivaled that of the blue blur's.

Aly swallowed down her fear and took off as well, bouncing between the columns that held up the roof and the opposite wall, reaching the other's speed. They all three charged at the genie, who was moving backwards at the same pace, sword ready to strike.

It was obvious that he had grown in his power since they last confronted him. He had a golden glow about him, and the Arabic characters that made up the 1001 Nights could be seen within that glow. Aly estimated that at least half of the book had already been absorbed!

"I've been waiting to finish things with you for a long time!" Malice was hidden underneath Sonic's usual teasing tone.

"You filthy rat! I'll shut that mouth of yours permanently!" the Erazor threatened.

Shadow merely rolled his eyes. "Enough talk. We have a mission to finish, Sonic, and a world to return to."

The Erazor, who had been a good football field's length away from the charging trio, suddenly teleported to be a few mere feet away. He raised his sword to strike, but the two hedgehogs on the ground split up at the last second, leaving the blade to harmlessly strike the shining tile.

Aly took the chance to distract him, leaping from a support column to his head. She leaned over so that she made eye contact with him briefly before poking him in the eyes and performing a back flip to reach the safety of the ground. The Erazor hissed in pain as his sight was disabled.

"Chaos Control!" Shadow's voice echoed about the hallway. He teleported several times around the Erazor, each time landing a kick or a punch before moving away from the Erazor's frantically swinging sword.

The genie teleported further away, smashing support columns now as he floated backwards. Aly was forced to remain on the ground, her speed cut dramatically.

Shadow noticed that she was disappearing further and further behind them. Leaving Sonic to dodge continuous sword strikes, he returned to gather her up and bring her along, letting her ride on his back as he skated over the ground.

She clung tightly to his neck, the wind whistling through her quills. Up ahead, the battling duo had taken a sharp turn; one that had almost sent Sonic sliding into the railing of the apparently circular balcony due to low traction and high speeds.

Shadow, on the other hand, took the turn with ease, leaning to the left as he turned, almost causing Aly to slip from his back.

The Erazor had stopped destroying support columns, giving Aly a chance to keep up on her own once again. She easily dismounted her midnight companion, taking once again to jumping at high speeds down the hallway.

"Three against one is hardly a fair fight!" the genie complained as the trio caught up to him. "Come, you filthy rat, and face me alone!"

With a quick glance to his companions, Sonic nodded and told them to hang back. "I can handle this, guys. Hang back!"

Shadow slid to a stop, nodding in understanding. Aly took longer to stop pursuing the genie, wanting revenge for what he had done for her. But another glance at her blue hero, and she knew to listen.

"Stay safe, Sonic…" she mumbled softly, walking a few more steps before watching them disappear down the expansive hallway.

Shadow approached the light hedgehog. "This whole balcony is circular. You'll see them pass by again," he told her. He gestured towards the railing. "Let's take a seat and wait. At the rate they're moving, they'll be back around in about two minutes."

She nodded, perching carefully on the thick marble. The midnight hedgehog chose to merely lean against it, crossing his arms. "And now, we wait."

**X-X-X**

The Erazor was so close to Sonic now, but to launch an attack would be foolish. Despite his speed, it was unlikely that he'd get away without being hit with that long blade. The Erazor could wield his weapon with surprising speed.

The genie prepared for an attack once again, but this time, he was on the opposite side of the width of the hallway. He'd already tried this trick before, and Sonic saw it as a great opening. While he was occupied with swiping horizontally across the hallway, Sonic leapt into the air and spin dashed into the Erazor's head.

The genie reeled back in pain, gripping at his head, but Sonic didn't let that stop him. He spun twice more into the Erazor's head, drawing blood with his razor sharp quills. The genie teleported away once again.

_Aha! It's working! Now I've just got to keep that up!_

The genie wiped blood from his face and sneered at the hedgehog. "Ha! Insolent pest! Your feeble attacks cannot harm me!"

The blue speedster rolled his eyes and continued to dodge the Erazor's swings, looking for an opening once again. With the genie constantly teleporting forwards and back, it made landing an attack difficult.

Suddenly, the genie took a different stance. He looked like he was preparing to charge forward. Sonic found his next opening, and began to charge up for a jump.

The genie charged.

_Come on. Closer…closer…_ When he was prepared to swipe out with his cutlass, Sonic aimed for his forehead once again. This time, the genie was sent flying onto his back from the force behind the hedgehog's well-timed jump. He quickly recovered, and the two took off down the hallway once again.

They rounded the next corner, and Sonic realized they were back where they had started. Debris from the door he had busted through earlier could be seen far down the hallway.

It was such a shame that he had to destroy such a beautiful work of architecture, as Shahra had put it. Sonic didn't share in the appreciation of the ornate door. Compounded with the fact that it had belonged to the Erazor, and the blue hedgehog found he was actually rather proud of his destruction. The genie didn't deserve such nice things.

His opponent's attacks were coming much faster now, due to his rage at the hedgehog. Sonic's chances at finding an opening were much lower now, though that didn't stop him from trying.

Another horizontal sweep, and he took the chance. The Erazor found himself once again assaulted by sharp quills to his forehead, diamond-strong spikes drawing blood from him once again. Though he could stop the bleeding with his magic, it didn't stop the pain that the hedgehog brought him.

"Filthy rat!" he cursed again, knocking the hedgehog away.

"What's wrong, Erazor? You don't look so good!" he taunted, though the strike he had received from the genie had worried him just a bit. That was almost a little _too_ close!

"Enjoy your moment of pride, rat. It shall be your last!" he promised, taking a stance once again. The two stopped their high speed fight, both preparing for the other to make a move. Sonic prepared a jump once again.

The genie couldn't wait any longer, and charged forward with a loud battle cry. Timing his jump well, the blue blur once again knocked the genie away, landing him on his back once again.

Another teleport, and the genie was up and flying. Fiery rage burned in his eyes.

The magical being rushed forward, preparing his cutlass for a diagonal strike. Sonic was prepared to dodge…but found himself instead stumbling to the ground. A piece of the broken door was to blame.

The genie bore down on the sapient, who was scrambling to rise once again to his feet. The slippery marble just _wasn't_ _cooperating_ with him today!

He managed to roll away from the genie, but the sword grazed his arm. A huge gash appeared, blood staining his peach fur. "Gah!"

While the Erazor laughed at the hedgehog's pain, he found his footing once again, and charged at the genie. "You'll pay for that!" he threatened.

The djinn prepared for another strike, but Sonic's adrenaline was at a high. He charged forth once again, this time latching onto the genie's head and delivering several punches and kicks along with the swipes from his sharp quills. He wasn't sure if the red stains were the Erazor's blood or his own.

The genie cried out in pain and began to take off down the hallway, the spirited hedgehog hanging on tightly. Rounding the corner, Sonic caught sight of his friends waiting on the sidelines.

Shadow raised an eyebrow as they got closer. Sonic had a knack for driving his enemies crazy, and this genie proved to be no different. It was obvious he was offended at being ridden like a rodeo bull. His normally pink skin was shining red with anger and embarrassment.

The flailing curved switchblade was beginning to worry Aly. Several times it came far too close to the blue hero. She was relieved when he finally dismounted the genie, though that relief was short lived. She caught sight of the blood dripping from the hedgehog's arm, staining his fur and the ground.

"Sonic!" she gasped, half worried and half enraged that the male hadn't been more careful. Shadow gripped her arm tightly, preventing her from charging towards the approaching duelists.

"He'll be fine! It's not the first injury he's received, and it will no doubt not be the last," he told her. "Just don't distract him!"

She whimpered with worry, but obeyed the dark hedgehog. He was Sonic's friend. He knew the male better than she. She would have to put her faith in him and trust that her companion would be safe.

They drew closer, though they appeared to be slowing down. Sonic had stopped, and was standing ready to jump at the genie. The djinn raised his sword, ready to charge and strike once again.

This time, when he charged, he moved much faster than Sonic had anticipated. He didn't allow that to discourage him, however, and charged forth as well.

His timing paid off. The genie began to glow with the magic that was escaping him, forced out of the weakened genie's body. He was no longer strong enough to hold it all in. He yelled in agony as the magic of the stories forced its way from his body, then fell face down onto the ground. The defeated genie struggled to sit up, using his sword as a crutch. "N…no…this isn't possible!" he whined. His sword wasn't strong enough to hold him, however, and slipped from his grasp. He fell back to the ground with a groan as the sword spun out of his reach.

The two spectating hedgehogs ran to join the battle weary Sonic, who was panting heavily as he watched the genie fall. He held his injured arm tightly, thankful that the blood had stopped coming.

Aly rested her hands on his shoulders, looking at him with worry. He smiled when they made eye contact. "I'm fine," he assured her. "I was more worried about you." He leaned forward and gave her a soft kiss on her lips, causing a blush to rise to her cheeks.

"Ugh. Would you two cut it out and wait until you can get a room?" Shadow grumbled, crossing his arms. "I think there are more important matters at hand."

"Oh, can it, grumpy pants!" Sonic countered.

The Erazor groaned again, cutting apart their bickering.

"Give up, Erazor!" Sonic shouted at him.

"You've lost, pathetic being," Shadow continued for him.

The genie disappeared in a puff of smoke, retreating into another room. Without missing a beat, the three hedgehogs dashed after him.

Sonic fell to one knee outside the door of the next room, attempting to catch his breath. "Sonic?!" Shahra called.

"Ah, I'm okay. I'm still…" he trailed off when he noticed that Shahra wasn't paying any attention to him, but instead staring at the door in front of them.

"That door. What is it?" she ran a dainty hand over the ornate structure.

While Aly and Shadow began to use cloth torn from Shadow's turban to dress Sonic's wound, Shahra continued to inspect the strange door, which refused to budge.

"I have an idea. Watch this!" Sonic turned towards the door. "Open, Sesame!"

The four stared at the door, waiting intently for a reaction. Moments passed in silence, except for the faint howling of the wind outside.

"Aw, nothing happened!"

_Smack!_ Sonic flinched away from the source of the strike, which happened to be his midnight-clad rival. "Idiot," Shadow growled. "Where'd you learn that one, a Disney movie?"

"It was worth a try…" he responded defensively.

Aly and Shahra inspected the door closer. Seven circular indentions adorned the structure; three on each side, and the last one at the top middle.

They gasped together. "That's…"

Sonic and Shadow stared at the door. Suddenly, an image of the book The Arabian Nights flashed through Sonic's mind. The door on the cover matched this one!

"There must be some sort of…offering we have to make. The seven circles…Sonic!" Shahra wasn't exactly the fastest at picking up on things, obviously. While Shadow was obviously annoyed at her stating the obvious, Aly had to admit she found it rather comical.

"'When the seven rings that control the worlds are gathered, the portal between worlds shall open,'" he recited. "We've got the seven World Rings. This must be the door that they open!"

The two women nodded in agreement. Shadow turned away from them and was headed for the railing of the hallway.

"Shadow? Where are you going?" Aly questioned, running after him.

"I no longer have business here. Whatever happens next is your business. When you two return to our world, come find me. I'll be in the room where I brought you to your final soul piece. For now, we part."

"Oh…" disappointment was obvious in her voice. "Well…Shadow…"

"Hm?" he had begun to take his leave once again, climbing onto the railing.

"Thank you," she bowed to him. "I owe you so much. You are a true friend…"

He raised his eyebrows. "You consider me…a friend?" his voice rose a little in surprise. When she had mentioned it earlier, he had chalked it up to her excitement of finally being whole once again. "You hardly know me."

"First impressions mean a lot, Shadow," she told him, standing on the railing next to him. "You can tell a lot from someone in the first five minutes of knowing them.

"You remind me of one of my old friends. He always tried to act gruff and closed out. But deep down, he had a huge heart. One he eventually fully opened to me…even though that was the same day he…passed away," she choked a little, then forced herself to remain composed. "You're a little like he was when I first met him. I know that we can grow to be great friends."

The dark hedgehog looked up at the full moon thoughtfully. The only other people that dared to call him a friend, or hint that he had a softer side, were Rouge and Maria. Maria was gone, now…

_Maria. _"You remind me of someone I once knew, as well," he admitted. "My sister, Maria."

The golden hedgehog grinned, then lunged forward to give the Ultimate Lifeform a hug. He grunted in surprise. "I didn't say that was an invitation to hug me…" he growled, though his heart wasn't in it.

"Shut up and hug me back."

Rolling his eyes, the crimson-splashed hedgehog conceded.

"I'll be waiting for you and Faker. Perhaps we'll have time to become better friends one day."

As soon as she released him, the male was gone, disappearing dramatically into the night.

_I have a feeling he's one for dramatics._

She returned to Sonic and Shahra, who gave her questioning looks. "Where's tall, dark, and grumpy?" he asked, noting she was alone.

"He'll be waiting for us. He says this isn't his battle. It's ours."

The Blue Blur shrugged. "He's missing out on one heck of a fight, but whatever!"

She giggled, then turned her attention to the door. "Now, let's get this thing open."

**X-X-X**

**Augh. That wasn't an easy write. I hope it's easier to read than it was to write….**

**I UPDATED. HEY LOOK I FINALLY UPDATED.**

**I'm finishing this story. Like, TODAY. I'm in the process of writing the final chapter…which is so cleverly called "Last Chapter." Hey, that's the stage's name in the game, and I figured that since that's the only main event left, it would be a fitting name.**

**It is, incidentally, not actually the last chapter. There's an epilogue that follows. There will be no more interludes, unlike I originally thought. I can't think of anything to write for another one. Otherwise, I'd upload one before this chapter.**

**Anyways, onward to writing the last two chapters so I can upload it and BE FINISHED!**

***SoulPieces***


	22. Last Chapter

**Chapter 19—Last Chapter**

Blue. Purple. Red. Green. White. Yellow. Cyan.

Prayers. Sadness. Rage. Hatred. Wishes. Joy. Pleasure.

Seven colors and seven emotions for the seven World Rings. Now, those rings had more purpose than just extra weight that Sonic had to carry around. Now, they acted as a key to the door between worlds.

Aly, Shahra, and Sonic stood expectantly around the ornate door, watching as the seven rings floated to their places in the door. With a golden burst of light, the rings were sealed into the door. Sparks flew from the entrance as the door opened to reveal…a throne room?

In the middle, a familiar looking switchblade was embedded in the carpet. Black smoke rose from the handle. The trio watched with trepidation, preparing for the reappearance of the Erazor Djinn.

He appeared like a mirage, eerily calm as he glowered down at the hedgehogs and the Ring Genie.

"You just don't give up, do you?" Sonic questioned, returning the Djinn's harsh glare.

"You've brought me all seven World Rings? Well done!"

Sonic chuckled humorlessly. "Hey, of course! We're such good buddies, after all!"

Aly took a fearful step behind Sonic as the Djinn's gaze swept over her. Thankfully, it didn't linger, but instead went to Shahra.

"Shahra…" he growled. She gasped when he addressed her, looking up in fear. "You have done well in using these two to gather the rings. Now, give them to me!"

"Hey, hold on! Aren't you going to do something about this?" Sonic questioned, pointing to the diminishing flame on his chest.

The Djinn ignored Sonic, instead giving the genie a nasty smirk. "Shahra, please, quickly! Let us rule the world together!" He extended a disgusting hand towards her. His black nails looked like a bird of prey's talons.

Pulling the rings to her, Shahra began to approach the Erazor. Sonic and Aly looked on in shock. "Shahra?! Wh-what's…?"

"I…I must…" she whispered softly.

"Oh no…" Aly mumbled to herself. "You said you wouldn't do this…"

"Shahra, stop!" Sonic begged her. "You can't do this! Think about what will happen!"

"I'm sorry. I have no choice…" she responded, her voice shaking. "I just want to be back with him…"

"No! As Genie of the Ring, I command you!" Sonic began to rub the ring on his finger. "Do what you truly think is right!"

With an agonizing cry, Shahra gripped her head and fell to the ground, the rings clattering off the stone around her.

The two hedgehogs ran to her. "Shahra!" While they were distracted by the fallen genie, the Erazor began to gather the rings from the ground himself.

"Prayer – Sadness – Rage – Hatred – Joy – Pleasure – Wishes," he called each one as they circled around him. "The seven hearts that make up the stories. These are the seven World Rings that bind these pages together!" He glowered down at the blue hedgehog.

"What?!"

"'But the life of the collector of the rings shall be offered up in sacrifice as the key for that control. I offer up YOUR life, blue hedgehog!"

"Oh, NOW you get it right!" he growled back at the menacing being.

Before either hedgehog could react, the Erazor's blade barreled down upon the hedgehog. He closed his eyes and braced for the impact of the blade, while his fellow hedgehog cried out in fear.

The blade never hit. A pair of thin arms found their way around Sonic's neck. When he reopened his eyes, Shahra was laid across his body as though she was a shield. A strange ornate ball fell from her limp hand as she slid to the floor.

"Shahra!"

"Sonic…Aly…" her voice was weak as the two gathered around her fallen body. Sonic lifted her gently into his arms "I'm…sorry… I knew… all along… I knew what would happen and I still got you two involved."

Tears began to fall from the lighter hedgehog's eyes. "Shahra…Shahra you promised me you wouldn't do this…" she whimpered. "_I thought promises were important to you!_"

Sonic tried to calm the genie. "It's okay. It's not your fault!" he tried to assure her. "Aly…it's not her fault!"

"Did I change my destiny?" the genie asked softly. "Did I…at least keep _our_ promise?" with trouble, she lifted her pinky up to the male hedgehog.

Tears fell from Aly's eyes. "You kept ours…and yours…" she whispered softly. "Shahra…"

"Grant me a wish…" Sonic pleaded. "I wish for you to not die, and to go back to the way you were!"

She looked up at him with tired eyes. "I'm so sorry, Master. I… cannot grant…"

Her final tear fell to the ground as the ring that bound her shattered. "Shahra!" both hedgehogs cried as she closed her eyes.

"Hmph. In the end, such is the weak power of a Genie of the Ring," the Erazor scoffed heartlessly. Suddenly, the World Rings thrust themselves into his body.

A sacrifice had been given, and now their power was accessible.

"Ugh! Ahh!" his skin bubbled as he was filled with immense power from the rings. He became disgustingly deformed, crying out in pain as the ring's power was forcibly stuffed into his body, forcing itself into a body that wasn't properly suited for such power. His flesh turned to sludge as the power overtook him.

The two hedgehogs both recoiled in disgust at the creature before them.

"I am Alf Layla wa-Layla," a deep, ethereal voice boomed from somewhere within the disgusting mass. It turned to some sort of black gas, something glowing from within with a disgusting green color. It shifted and undulated as he spoke. "I AM the Arabian Nights! I will be its new creator! I will remake this world and this reality in my own image!"

"This is…awful," Sonic remarked. "You're just some incomplete monster…"

The mass began to take a new shape that slightly resembled the Djinn it once was. It now sported six disgusting arms and red markings all over its purple body. The golden light of the power of the World Rings sparked through its body. Several small craters dotted its body, exuding some sort of white smoke.

Suddenly, three of the rings left the creatures body and made for Sonic, who stood now in fear of the creature in front of him. Aly was able to spot the rings of Hatred, Rage, and Sadness as they forced their way into the hedgehog's body. "Sonic!"

He cried in pain as he was forced into a transformation. The golden light that came from his body was blinding.

When it faded, the familiar blue speedster was gone. Now, a new hedgehog stood in front of Aly. He had deep indigo fur with two white stripes running down his back. Four huge golden rings were on each of his ankles and wrists. His eyes were only pools of white. His gloves and shoes were missing as well. A strange fire surrounded his body, forcing Aly to step away from him.

"We've got to stop him…" his new, deep voice thundered. "Shahra! Please, lend me your power!" He opened his fist to reveal the broken ring.

With a flash, the hedgehog and genie disappeared, leaving Aly alone in the throne room. She shuddered with fear, her eyes searching desperately around the room. Shahra's body was only a few feet away from her, but she was afraid to approach her.

Her gaze found the ceiling, where a strange cloud showed Sonic and "Alf Layla wa-Layla" were floating in a strange alter dimension, ready for a battle that would no doubt be the final.

She couldn't help but shake nervously a little. She sat down on the throne, making herself comfortable, and watched the battle unfold.

_Sonic…be careful…_

**X-X-X**

Only one thing was on Darkspine Sonic's mind.

_Kill._

This…monster had murdered his friend. Had tried to destroy his girl. And now, he was claiming to be the creator of the Arabian Nights.

He had ripped the stories to shreds. He didn't deserve to create anything!

He had no idea where they had gone to. All he knew was it was him and Alf Layla wa-Layla. This was not Aly's battle. It was his. Only he could stop the monster that this Djinn had become.

He felt hatred for the creature for causing so much pain and destruction.

He felt rage that this thing thought he could just take and destroy what he wished.

He felt sadness that his new friend was now lying dead on the cold stone floor of that palace.

White smoke was spouting from Alf Layla's eyes and mouth, though Darkspine was unsure what its use was. He now sported a tail that held a close resemblance to the switchblade he had used earlier.

The rings had boosted his power immensely, and given him a new form. A much more dangerous form.

"The stories of this world are mine!" the monster declared.

"If this is your world, then it's a world I don't want any part of!" he growled.

The monster merely cackled, and Darkspine found himself flying towards the monster. They were in a battle much like the one that had taken place earlier, in the large circular hall. Darkspine charged, and Alf Layla flew backwards at the same space, maintaining his distance from him.

The indigo hedgehog could feel power building up inside of him as he flew forward.

The monster teleported much closer, and white lines flashed across Darkspine's vision for a moment. He wasn't sure what they meant, but he moved out of their way, just in case.

The Djinn gone mad struck out with his nasty claws, swiping in the same pattern the white lines had revealed moments before. Smiling at his new power, Darkspine remained completely unharmed. _This is handy!_

His opponent was obviously enraged that he had missed, and teleported back a safe distance. He called up several pink electric balls and sent them flying sporadically at Darkspine. Wherever he moved, the projectiles followed.

They moved so fast that even he had issues dodging.

_Use your Time Break!_ Shahra's voice echoed in his head. If he hadn't been so preoccupied with focusing his power to perform said skill, he would have convinced himself that somewhere, somehow, Shahra was still alive.

Time Break made it much easier to slip past the projectiles, and gain a little ground on Alf Layla. However, landing an attack wouldn't be easy. He wouldn't fall to any normal attack this time.

After a few more frenzied swipes at the hedgehog, it was obvious that the monstrosity was becoming increasingly agitated that not _one_ of his attacks had yet to hit. Now, it was time for a different approach.

He dashed away from Darkspine much a much further distance and began to charge up energy, forcing it into a physical, sphere-shaped form. It had a pinkish hue, like most of his attacks.

"It would take a miracle for you to avoid this attack!" he taunted the hedgehog, thrusting the ball forward.

Without even thinking, Darkspine charged forward, focusing his spiritual energy into a Speed Break. Moving at breakneck speed, he met the ball head-on, trying to force it back.

When it refused to budge, he became extremely frustrated, crying out as he forced more energy into his charge. Finally, he felt it begin to give, altering its course a full 180 degrees. With a well-timed kick, the energy attack was sent flying back at the former Erazor Djinn.

With the monster now incapacitated, Darkspine took the chance to attack a weak spot protruding from its chest. Putting all of his built-up energy into it, he thrust punch after punch and kick after kick at the strange growth on Alf Layla wa-Layla.

Writing in agony, the self-proclaimed creator of the stories shot away from the hedgehog's fierce attacks. Three of his smoke jets – one on his back and two on his chest – stopped producing the strange white gas, obviously furthering his pain.

"Gwaah! How can you have this power?!" he questioned in shock.

They were back to square one again, Darkspine chasing his enemy down the endless dimension. The former Djinn began to throw down strange dark vortexes in Darkspine's path—whirlpools. _I have to stay clear of those!_

His enemy was back to throwing pink electric projectiles, this time even faster than before. Using Time Break once again, Darkspine found his way around the threat, though he did have a close call with the final ball. It caught his shoulder, sending a painful electric jolt through his body.

He shook it off quickly, for Alf Layla was pulling up another energy ball.

Darkspine repeated his earlier tactic of using Speed Break, but it was beginning to take its toll on his body. Even with his powerful new transformation, the battle was strenuous. He was unused to combating such power.

Another powerful kick, and the ball of magical energy was hurled back at the power-hungry genie. The indigo hedgehog wasted no time in reaching him, once again attacking the growth on his chest that proved to be a weak spot.

After quite a bit of pummeling, Darkspine thrust his open palm down onto the growth, sending wave after wave of pain through the monster's deformed body. Three more gas-producing jets were cut off—two on his knees and one on his stomach.

_One more should do it!_ He thought tiredly.

The monster was in a frenzy now, thrusting projectile after projectile at the hedgehog. Whirlpools littered his path while hundreds of electricity balls were speeding towards him.

_Well…this could be a problem…_

Using Time Break again would wear him out too fast, and he couldn't just stop and let Alf Layla get away. He had to find time to focus his energy again in order to use his special skills. But now was definitely not the time!

Throwing caution into the wind and relying on his infamous luck, Darkspine darted forwards, hoping that being struck by the electricity wouldn't hurt too badly.

He soon realized that the former Erazor had tossed out so many at a time that they were colliding with each other and exploding before reaching him!

_Perfect! _He leapt over the whirlpools with ease, dodging the few projectiles that did manage to make it towards him. He had more time to focus his energy for the next major attack.

The pink ball of energy was forming once again. _This is it!_

Alf Layla heaved it forward with a grunt at the same time that Darkspine unleashed his Speed Break. He met the ball head on once again, though the collision force was so great he was tossed backwards a little.

Attempting to hold his ground despite flying through space, he pushed against the progressing ball, using all of his strength to turn it back around. With a powerful kick, it was sent back towards the monster, though it wasn't moving as fast as he had hoped it would.

Thankfully, it got the job done, and the monster was paralyzed once again. Darkspine wasted no time in attacking.

It only took one harsh punch. The final gas-producing jet – positioned on its forehead – went out.

He had done it. He had gotten his revenge.

Arabic characters flew from Alf Layla wa-Layla's body as his power stolen from the stories left him. He cried out in pain and frustration as all he had worked for was ripped from him by a hedgehog a tenth of his size.

"Your tale is finished, Erazor! Next time, try writing a better story!"

Despite all of his negative emotions, Sonic had still not lost his love for taunting his enemies.

**X-X-X**

In the throne room, Aly leapt from her perch on the edge of her seat as the Erazor disappeared from the realm. He'd done it! Sonic had saved them all!

Or, at least, all but one…

The Erazor, now back in his original form, suddenly crashed to the ground mere inches away from her feet. She yelped and instinctively sprung away from him, then relaxed slightly as she noticed he was unmoving. Darkspine approached the ground much more gracefully, his darker self melting away as he neared the ground. Aly took her place beside him on the top stair in front of the throne.

The Erazor was moving now, crawling towards his fallen switchblade. "I shall not be defeated!" he scowled, using the blade as support as he stood. "If you defeat me, I will simply return, again and again! I am immortal! I cannot be vanquished!"

While he cackled evilly, Sonic toyed with something behind his back. He looked at his female companion with a humorless smirk. She simply returned his look with confusion.

He tilted his head towards what he was concealing behind his back. Her eyes widened as she made the connection.

"Oh…!"

He pulled the golden lamp from behind his back, drawing the Erazor's attention.

"That can't be?! That's…the—"

Sonic grinned with mirth, placing his other hand around the spout of the ornate lamp. It was actually mostly red, with a golden pattern etched all over. He thought back to when Shahra had first handed him the lamp—though at the moment, it had just been a strange looking ball with the same pattern.

"_I want you to hold on to this," she requested, placing the strange sphere in his hand._

When she had passed, the ball revealed its true form—the lamp that held the Erazor.

"The genie of the lamp is supposed to grant three wishes, am I right?" Aly taunted, looking at the genie. Sonic bounced it in his hand a little.

"I will never grant any wishes from the likes of you!"

He turned from the spitting genie and hopped up into the seat of the throne, making himself comfortable. Aly followed, placing herself on the armrest beside him.

"My first wish," he started, holding up one finger. "Bring Shahra back to life!"

He pointed the lamp at the genie, causing magic to shoot from it as though it were a bullet from a gun. He attempted to resist the magic that bound him to his contract, but it was useless. It didn't matter how much power he had—he was still bound to the lamp.

Pink dust shot from the Erazor's body, part of it shooting towards Sonic's finger. Shahra's golden ring reappeared, completely like new once again. The rest of the dust began to swirl and take a form next to the two hedgehogs. From the dust came their dear friend—the Genie of the Ring. Sunlight danced off her beautiful skin and shining clothes as she awoke from her formerly permanent slumber. She looked at them with confusion at first, but her mouth gaped a little when she recognized the lamp, which Sonic was handing to his female partner.

"Our second wish," she began, glaring at the Djinn. "Return the Arabian Nights back to the way they were, so the world can have its stories again!" Copying Sonic's earlier move, she aimed the spout of the lamp at the enraged magical genie, another burst of magic plowing towards him. The recoil from the lamp nearly knocked her from the armrest of the throne, though she righted herself without too much flailing. The blue speedster and Shahra had to suppress their laughter.

Bellowing in protest, the Erazor's stolen power left him, swirling around him in the form of thousands of Arabic symbols. The swirling black letters dashed for the door, taking off into the sunlight and returning to the pages that made up the book.

"M-my…" the Erazor panted, reaching after his retreating power.

"The third wish," Sonic began, holding up three fingers.

"Erazor Djinn! You shall live out the rest of time, trapped inside your lamp as you were in days of old!" the two voices mixed together with a commanding tone, Aly's high voice contrasting well with Sonic's lower tone.

The lamp released one last burst of magic, striking the recoiling Erazor in the chest and sending him flying onto his back. Pink light began to glow from him, forming first at his chest, then spreading all around his body. Winds swirled around him as he groaned in pain, attempting to resist his binding contract. The winds picked up, pulling at the genie.

"Shahra! I know you're there!" he made his appeal to the female genie. "Please, stop him! We can start over, the two of us! I swear! I swear it!"

Sonic stood from the throne, placing a hip on his fist and rolling his eyes as the Erazor's voice rose at least three octaves in fear. He sighed and shook his head as though humiliated for the Erazor at the embarrassing pleading tone he had taken on. "It's like a desperate ex boyfriend who just can't let go," he mumbled to Aly, who nodded in agreement without taking her eyes off the scene before her.

"The world is mine!" the genie protested to the swirling winds, attempting to crawl from the growing vortex that was beginning to lift him from the ground. "I cannot be denied by those filthy rats! Whyyyyyy?!"

"I told you, I'm not a RAT!" Sonic looked up at the swirling dust that held the Erazor, searching for the lamp. He flipped the top open and held it up in the air, which the magical winds immediately pulled the protesting, whining genie into. "I'm a HEDGEHOG," he emphasized, lifting the flaming spout of the lamp to his lips. A quick puff of air, and the flame was gone.

Aly approached him, laying a soft hand on his shoulder. Her eyes held admiration and pride for her blue hero. He smiled down at her.

A sniffle drew their attention. Shahra floated a little ways away from them, crying softly.

"Shahra. Will you grant me one last wish?" he requested, walking towards the balcony. The lighter colored hedgehog glanced at Shahra, urging her to follow him. She took a seat on the throne, facing away from them. This was their moment.

The Ring Genie followed the hedgehog, wiping her brown, tear-filled eyes. She nodded at his question.

"I wish for a mountain of handkerchiefs," he said softly, approaching the edge of the balcony and gazing out at the light blue sky. A few puffy clouds dotted the air.

Small white pieces of cloth began to drift down from the sky, forming from nothing and quickly creating a large mound that reached the balcony. It reminded Sonic of snow.

"Now, just let yourself cry," he told her, placing the lamp on the railing and leaning forward. "As much as you need to. "You'll have plenty of handkerchiefs to help you through it," he turned back to her, smiling widely. She couldn't help but return the smile.

_So this is real…it's not a dream,_ she thought wistfully. _We're all…truly safe._

**X-X-X**

**OH GOD.**

**I hate battle scenes. So much. THEY'RE SO HARD TO WRITE BECAUSE THEY'RE SO REPETITIVE. Especially in this game.**

**Well, this is the final chapter, folks. Our story has come to a close.**

…**Just kidding. There's another chapter after this XD It's the epilogue.**

**There are many people I would like to thank, but I'll save that for the end of the epilogue. That's right, I didn't do this just on my own! I had many motivators, and a helpful YouTube channel that I used to properly write all the cutscenes :P**

…**Dang. I can't believe I have actually finished this.**

**Now, I have had someone ask me if I'll be doing a fic for Sonic and the Black Knight. As cool as that sounds, I'm not so sure my inspiration would work out so well for that game. I was just never a huge fan of that storyline.**

**On the other hand, it actually has Shadow the Hedgehog in it, which could make for some hilariously interesting material, especially if I inserted a new character.**

**It's something to think on, at least.**

**Anyways, be looking for an epilogue soon. I'm debating just uploading it now and calling it quits with this story…XD**

***SoulPieces***


	23. Epilogue

**Epilogue**

"So. This is it, isn't it?"

The three friends stood around the pool of lava deep within the Evil Foundry that housed the fire Ifrit. Sonic, in the middle, held the lamp that sealed away the Erazor Djinn. Shahra stood on his right, and Aly on his left.

"It is…" the relief in the female genie's voice was heavy. "Our mission is finally complete."

Sonic looked down at the lamp in his hand. "Such a shame…the genie from Aladdin seemed so…different than he really turned out to be."

"Oh please, Robin Williams is still the same loveable blue genie. He has no relation to Erazor," Aly giggled, nudging her blue partner.

He rolled his eyes. "Yes, but I'll never be able to watch that movie again!"

"I could probably change your mind," she whispered softly in his ear with a sultry tone. The blue hedgehog blushed brightly and flattened his ears.

"Um…an explanation, please?" Shahra requested.

The yellow hedgehog giggled. "He's a voice actor. Something from back in our world. Don't worry too much, Shahra," she smiled.

"Anyways, it's time to be rid of him for a long time," the male hedgehog took on a more serious tone.

"Hey, don't think you could just leave me out!" a deep, almost raspy voice sounded from behind them. The trio spun around to see the midnight hedgehog who had brought Aly to her last soul piece.

"Oh! Shadow! I thought you had already set out for your world. Though, it's a great surprise to see you again," the light colored hedgehog grinned happily.

"Hm," the Ultimate Lifeform stepped between her and the blue blur. "I just want to make sure that genie is gone before I leave."

"Here, Shads. I'll allow you the honor!" Sonic tossed the lamp towards his doppelganger, who scowled at him.

"Don't call me Shads."

They gathered once again around the pool. Shadow took a deep breath, then released the golden lamp, allowing it to fall into the molten lava with a _hiss_. It wasted no time in disappeared below the surface.

"Now, we say goodbye, she-hog," he turned to Aly. "Perhaps we'll cross paths again one day."

"You're leaving by yourself?" she gasped, reaching for his arm.

"I work alone. Though if you stick around Faker, you'll find that we cross paths far more than I wish. We all live in the same general area. It's very likely that we'll have time to talk again in the future."

"Oh…well, stay safe, okay? Promise me," she held out her pinky.

The crimson splashed hedgehog raised an eyebrow. "A pinky promise?"

"The most sincere of them all!" she proclaimed. "You can't break it!"

"Hmm…" he sighed with slight annoyance, but gave in to her pleading jade eyes. "Fine." He laced his pinky with hers briefly.

"Awe, Shads is making a new friend!" Sonic teased, punching the darker hedgehog in the shoulder.

With a glare, Shadow stepped back. "Chaos Control!" he shouted, disappearing with a flash.

"This day is full of goodbyes…" the golden hedgehog sighed, looking at her genie friend. She had been her savior from a dying, sin-ridden world. The two had ran through the land together, searching for a way to save Shahra's world. Together they had journeyed from the pages in search of the legendary Blue Hedgehog.

And now, they had gone on their final adventure together.

Tears began to well up in both females' eyes. "Shahra…"

"I'm going to miss you!" the genie beat her to it, clinging tightly to the female hedgehog's shoulders in a hug.

"I don't want to say goodbye!" she cried into the girl's lavender top.

"Uh…" Sonic backed awkwardly away, unsure how to handle two crying females.

"I know, I know," Shahra whispered, pulling back from the young girl. "But it's time. This isn't the place for you. I think our friend has a much better suited place for you."

She nodded. "It's what Will was talking about, back when I spent the night at his house," she conceded. "He said I would find happiness in the end, despite all my hardships. Neither of us had any idea that he meant I would find it with a blue hedgehog in another world, though."

Shahra giggled. "I spoke with Will once," she confessed. "He's happy that you two found each other. He thinks you two belong together."

Aly blushed and looked at her love interest. "I don't know how long it will last," she admitted. "But, I'll be grateful for the time I'm allowed to be happy with him. It's where I'm supposed to be," she repeated. "I know it, because Will has been silent for a while now. He doesn't have to guard me anymore…I've found where I should be."

"I think he'll always be guarding you, whether you see him again or not," Sonic stated, taking Aly's hand in his. "And even when he doesn't make an appearance, I'll be right here, guarding you as well."

She blushed as he planted a short kiss on her forehead. "It's time for us to go."

_And so, the legendary Blue Hedgehog and his beautiful golden girl, having saved the land of the Arabian Nights, ran endlessly, until they found their way back into their own world. Along the way, their bond grew stronger, and they had many adventures…_

_But those are stories for another time._

_Thank you, Aly. Thank you, Sonic the Hedgehog. The Legendary Hedgehog._**X-X-X**

**Well. That was a little harder to write than I expected.**

Special Thanks To:

**frokenok3 **on YouTube. His videos of the game allowed me to write my story without having to play through the stages again and again just to get a feel for how they should be written out!

**Mario Hedgehog** on GameFAQs. Thanks to his game script, I was able to accurately recite the dialogue!

Everyone who left a review. You guys gave me the motivation I needed to finally finish this story! A super special thanks goes to **FireWolfHeart** and **Idalia**, who reviewed the most often! Also, to **Ksonic**, whose stories inspired me to start a Sonic fanfiction in the first place. She was also my first supporter, and even though she isn't still a huge Sonic fan, I hope one day she reads the rest of my fic and tells me what she thinks.

And, of course, you. Yes, you, the person who took the time to read this! I promised I would finish this story, and dadgum I finally did it. Thank you to everyone for sticking through this with me and reading all the way through. I'm sorry I didn't finish sooner, but I hope this ending was worth the wait.

May there be great rejoicing, for my most popular fanfiction has been completed!


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